Summer Solstice Celebration 2016: Night at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture

Free Public Special Event

Kick off summer at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture's annual Summer Solstice celebration.

Enjoy a fun evening with circus performers, music, dance, food trucks, and hands-on activities for all ages, with free evening admission to the Harvard Semitic Museum, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, and Harvard Museum of Natural History.

You won't want to miss this special summer night featuring a special performance by the Revels Singers directed by George Emlen. Create your own summer crown with seasonal flowers and garden greens, turn yourself into royalty by making and wearing an Egyptian-inspired ornament, or craft your own sun streamer with powerful Aztec sun symbols.

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Bon Me’s pan-Asian delights will be available for purchase.

The Summer Solstice Celebration is free and open to the public. In case of rain, the event will move inside the museums. Free event parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. Please note that Divinity Avenue will be closed to traffic during the Solstice.

The Harvard Museums of Science & Culture are only an 8-minute walk through Harvard Yard from the Harvard Square Red Line T stop.

View the event poster

Performance Schedule

Time: 5:00 pm–8:24 pm (sunset)

Location: 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

In the event of rain, performances will move indoors to the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street                          

5:00 pm until sunset

Keep your eyes open for stilt walkers, jugglers, and acrobats!

5:30 pmSudacas

Join us for a lively performance of traditional and pop music from Latin America presented by Marianella Rojas and Esther Rojas. The duo fuses musical elements from their native Colombia and Venezuela with jazz harmony and pop elements to create subtle and fresh sounds. Marianella and Esther met at Berklee College of Music in 2011, and have been playing together ever since.

6:15 pmCircus Arts Feature Show

Enjoy an engaging performance of circus arts and acrobatics featuring artists from Off the Ground Circus Arts.

7:00 pmRevels Singers

The Revels Singers—a community chorus directed by George Emlen—will usher in summer with a lively selection of music celebrating the natural world, including ocean-inspired songs and anthems, a paean to the moon, and a stern admonition to be good stewards of the earth, “our only home.”                                               

7:40 pm–8:20 pm Joh Camara and Troupe SewaEnjoy a spirited performance of West African drumming that will summon luck and good fortune as we begin the new summer season.

Sidi Mohamed Camara, popularly known as “Joh,” was born in Bamako, Mali in West Africa. Surrounded by great artists and musicians as a child, Joh started traditional dance and drumming at the age of five. Joh resides in Boston, where he teaches traditional Mande culture and language, as well as music and dance traditions from Mali, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, and Senegal.

8:20 pm–8:24 pmSolstice Countdown

Join us as we count down the minutes to mark the end of the longest day of the year and the beginning of the summer. 

8:24 pm 

Sunset

Activities Schedule

Time: 5:00 pm­–7:30 pmLocation: 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

In the event of rain, all activities will take place indoors (check printed schedules at museums for final locations) 

Flower Crowns

Design your very own summer crown with seasonal flowers and garden greens.

Solar Eclipse

Learn about the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse that will occur along a path that traces from Oregon across the US to Georgia and create a bookmark that highlights the phases of an eclipse.

Egyptian Collars

Turn yourself into royalty by making and wearing an Egyptian-inspired ornament. 

Sun Streamers

Create your own piece of the sun as you fly your sun streamer through the air. Decorate with your own unique designs or powerful Aztec sun symbols celebrating the sun’s importance to life.

Food Trucks

Time: 5:00 pm until sunset 

Location: 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Bon Me’s pan-Asian delights and Roxy’s sandwiches will be available for purchase.