by Nancy Whelan

Thousands celebrated at the festival village on Treasure Island for Summer Sailstice 2009. All photos courtesy of John Arndt, founder of Summer Sailstice.

Summer solstice takes place June 21, at 7:28 a.m., marking the first day of summer and the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Celebrating the solstice seems paramount this year, perhaps because it’s been such a long, wet winter — though I have to admit, before writing this article, I didn’t know much about such celebrations. After one quick online catalog search at the Half Moon Bay Library, I found the coolest book ever: Celebrate the Solstice: Honoring the Earth’s Seasonal Rhythms through Festival and Ceremony by Richard Heinberg. His explanations about how various cultures have celebrated the solstices as a way of honoring the importance of seasonal cycles, how our ancestors marked the solstices with festivals, and how these festivals “deepened people’s sense of connection with land and sky” struck me as very Coastside.

Even more Coastside is Summer Sailstice, a global, annual ceremonial sail held on the weekend nearest the summer solstice. This year is the 10th anniversary of the celebration and it starts on June 19 as the sun rises over the international dateline in the Pacific. Anyone can register for free and create a sailing “event.” Visit the Summer Sailstice website to find boats in your area that are already registered or to recruit crew for your own event. What a fantastic way to enjoy the longest sailing day of the year and pay your respects to Mother Nature!

Celebrate the rhythm of life during Hot Latin Nights at Montara’s La Costanera, the second Thursday of the month. Salsa lessons are offered from 8:30-9:30 p.m. and live music continues after class so you can practice what you’ve learned. Alternatively, if dancing amongst the redwoods is more your thing, you won’t want to miss the 18th annual La Honda Fair, which takes place at La Honda Gardens, June 12-13. Eat, drink and be merry with your neighbors amidst nature, live music and an abundance of arts and crafts. For more information, please call 650-747-0351.

A community cycle takes place Saturday, June 26, with the 2010 “Giro di Peninsula,” a fully-supported bicycle ride with five routes and an Italian lunch, starting and ending at the San Mateo County Events Center. The “giro” is part of the Festa Italiana di San Mateo, sponsored by the Festa Foundation — a nonprofit that raises money for kids and adults with developmental disabilities.

Ancient solstice festivals, according to Richard Heinberg’s aforementioned book, also served as a platform for communities to govern themselves. In our time, the Half Moon Bay Brewery fits that bill, offering Coastsiders a new forum to discuss collective affairs. Views n’ Brews is held on the first Thursday of the month, 6-8 p.m. The guest speaker on June 3 is Lisa Frazier, CEO of The Bay Citizen, a San Francisco-based nonprofit public-media organization that aims to foster civic engagement in the Bay Area. Stop by to spew your view and sample the new Summer Solstice brew!

Share sustainable gardening ideas at the new Quarry Park Community Garden in El Granada on Sundays, from 12-3 p.m. The new garden strives to build community while encouraging everyone to eat healthier. “We’re going to have a bee and butterfly garden and little stations where kids can learn how to start seeds and grow a vegetable garden,” says Pam Manuel, one of the garden’s founders. Coastside neighbors are invited to stop by and share ideas about how to help this new community garden grow. For more information, contact Carolmorganhunter@gmail.com.

There are many more opportunities in June for Coastsiders to connect to nature and celebrate the change of seasons — too many to mention here. Then again, we’re lucky. All we have to do is walk to the beach, synch ourselves to the vibes from the ocean and witness the daily cycle of sunrise and sunset.