The party starters fighting to revive Stonehenge’s Solstice Free Festival

As the Winter Solstice dawns, Stonehenge transforms into a place where myths and ancient rituals meet modern rebellion. The stones, once built to align perfectly with the sun, now become the stage for a celebration of freedom, resistance and community. Here, the spirit of the free festival thrives – unrestricted, alive with (unamplified) music and a touch of the mystical. People seeking the allure of pagan rituals and the utopian vibes of alternative festivals converge at this sacred site, reclaiming a sense of belonging in a world that often feels fragmented.

This convergence of past and present, of folklore and contemporary ritual, is captured in Free the Stones! a project that invites us into a unique world where countercultures are alive and well. Photographer Freddie Miller and activist Sid Hope take us on a journey into the often misunderstood world of Stonehenge, as they explore its role as a cultural hub for a collection of tribes: pagans, the free festival movement and New Age Travellers.

Shot over the course of a year, their project combines Miller’s evocative photo series with a short film narrated by Hope, a veteran of the Stonehenge Free Festival Campaign. Together, the pair capture the magnetic pull of the ancient stones and the ongoing struggle to reclaim the festival legacy of Stonehenge, intertwining images and personal accounts that tell a story of freedom, authority and alternative ways of living.

“I think capitalism, online culture and consumerism can be incredibly stifling,” Miller explains. “People are searching for meaning, trying to make sense of the world. Folklore and the pursuit of alternative lifestyles offer people solace.” In a world that often feels detached from the natural rhythms of life, the search for meaning becomes a powerful force. The drive to find connection, whether through the ancient stones or the fleeting freedom of a festival, calls out to those disillusioned by mainstream culture.

Freddie’s journey to Free the Stones! began with a chance encounter. “I was at the Beltane druid ritual last year doing research for another project – as you do – when I met Sid Hope,” Miller recalls. “He was quickly dashing around handing out these flyers that looked like a trippy cross between acid house rave posters and DIY cut’n’paste punk zines; the words ‘Stonehenge Festival Campaign’ photocopied across the top. A subculture-clash if you will. We got chatting and I found out Sid campaigns to reinstate a People’s Free Festival at Stonehenge, where up to 60,000 people gathered for the solstice before Thatcher’s army put a stop to it at the Battle of the Beanfield in 1985.”

This meeting reignited Miller’s interest in Stonehenge as a site of cultural resistance. The project, however, wasn’t just about capturing the stones but the people drawn to them. Miller’s photos blend the ordinary with the mystical. Robed druids alongside families picnicking or festival-goers waving an acid house smiley flag near the stones.

“I hope that it shines a light on parts of Stonehenge people tend to overlook,” Miller explains. “These spaces need to be preserved. And just as importantly, people’s right to access them does, too. It also ties into the whole land ownership debate. One day we risk everything being privatised! I think debates like this allow us to keep ideas of ownership, freedom and the right to roam at the forefront of culture.”

For Sid Hope, Stonehenge isn’t just a sacred site – it’s a way of life. “It’s the squatting movement that opened my eyes to it, it brought me in to contact with those kind of people: Railton Road in Brixton, which had a strong West Indian community and Bonnington Square. They are important places because of the wonderful people – people you could talk to, be open with.”

Hope’s community-driven ethos guides his work, though he resists labels. “For a start, I wouldn’t call myself an activist,” he says. “What I do is just part of life – it’s just what comes naturally. It’s all about community, friends. You know what I mean?”

The Free Festival Campaign’s goal is ambitious: to secure an authorised free festival site near Stonehenge, where people can gather without damaging the ancient monument. However, Sid acknowledges the challenges inherent in such a vision.

“Ultimately, the return of the Summer Solstice Free Festival is our main aim,” Hope says. “And to an extent, we’ve had a good influence. We’ve brought about a return of the festival spirit since we arrived in 2012. We realised the dream was a massive free festival. In this day and age, doing it legally, that’s very difficult – makes the cost of it hard. We couldn’t get those funds together. So, in a way, we’ve found we are happy to plod along as we are, without having to worry about raising loads of money. People don’t realise we’ve put on five summer solstice area festivals in the last seven years. We’re quite happy on The Drove (a byway next to Stonehenge) putting on a sound system for people to enjoy.”

Perceptions of the Stonehenge celebrations rarely match up with reality, Miller explains. “People assume it’s just eccentric druids in robes and don’t take it very seriously,” he says. “It goes much deeper though – gathering at Stonehenge and the seasonal celebrations are of real significance to lots of people. Whether that’s from a Neo-pagan spiritual perspective or whether it’s more tied into the hippie and New Age Traveller movements. It is very important – the central hub of these communities in many ways.”

Hope agrees. “It’s still there – it’s like a family. Maybe it’s a different generation, but thankfully it is still continuing. That’s part of the reason for the campaign, to keep that narrative alive, especially the festival spirit. A hell of a lot of people know about it, but they only really see the surface. They think it’s one-dimensional, that it’s just about the druids celebrating the solstice, which isn’t the case.”

For both Miller and Hope, Free the Stones! is more than just a film: it’s a call to preserve traditions that connect us. “In an increasingly alienating world, places like Stonehenge remind us of the importance of community, resistance and a deeper connection to the earth,” Miller reflects. Their work captures the timeless spirit of solstice – not only as a sacred site but as a living testament to the power of collective identity and the enduring need for freedom and connection.

Free the Stones! is directed by Freddie Miller and narrated by Sid Hope.

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