"Feel the solstice!":people greet solstice sunrise at Stonehenge

About 19,000 New Agers, present-day druids and partygoers gathered inside and around the ancient circle of towering stones to greet the longest day in the northern hemisphere as the sun struggled to peek out against a smoky gray sky at 4:58 a.m.

Photo: "Feel the solstice!":people greet solstice sunrise at Stonehenge

Meadows, wearing a wreath of pink carnations over long pink hair-wrapped braids, identified herself as a fairy of the Tribe of Frog.

Stonehenge, on the Salisbury Plain 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of London, was built between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C. The lichen-covered rocks are a major British tourist attraction and have spiritual significance for thousands of druids and New Age followers.

The crowd was generally peaceful overnight and in the early morning hours. Wiltshire police arrested two people for drunken and disorderly behavior and two for public order offenses, spokesman Dave Taylor said.

In 1985, revelers clashed violently with police at the solstice ceremony, resulting in a ban on the celebration. Following years saw clashes between riot police and revelers determined to welcome the solstice among the stones, the AP reports.

English Heritage, the monument's caretaker, began allowing full access to the site again in 2000, according to the AP.

Crowds of partygoers stumbled toward their cars an hour after sunrise, some clutching nearly empty bottles of mixed drinks or beer cans.