The longest day, the shortest night in 2025: folk signs on June 21, the Day of the Summer Solstice

June 21, 2025, will be the summer solstice. It is the longest daylight day of the year and the shortest night in the Northern hemisphere of the Earth.

Historian and cultural critic Natalia Zinovich told Izvestia what this day means. According to her, the summer solstice is the longest day of the year, which is explained from an astronomical point of view.

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"People get the feeling that the sun seems to be hovering at its zenith and doesn't move anywhere throughout the day. Many cultures celebrated the sun and celebrated it very vividly, especially the northern ones, as they rejoiced at the onset of warmth after a long winter. The Slavs, before switching to the Gregorian calendar, celebrated Ivan Kupala on the solstice," explained the specialist.

Starting from June 21, the length of the night will gradually increase, and the day will decrease.

According to folk signs, if there is abundant dew on this day, then this will lead to a rich harvest, and rainy and windy weather will lead to poor; if the weather is not sunny, there may be no harvest at all; if there was a starry night the day before, there will be a lot of mushrooms.

Many did not sleep at all on the night of June 21, but made a wish at dawn and believed that it would definitely come true.