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For over 4,500 years, Stonehenge has been a monument, a calendar, a clock, a burial site, a place of ritual, and a magnet for speculation and excitement. And in all these guises, it has mediated our relationship with the sun - a relationship that is no less real now than it ever was. We continue to attend Stonehenge, if not to communicate directly with the solar powers, to boost our serotonin levels and punctuate our lives at this seat of significance.

Thousands of people spend the night of June 20-21 together at Stonehenge, watching the sun set and rise on the Solstice. Smaller but significant numbers mark the winter solstice and the equinoxes. The gatherings are relatively unorganised, there are no headline acts, no spectators, only participants. The attendees are druids, astronomers, travellers, wiccans, digital nomads, pagans, Gore-Tex-clad families, festival-chasers, anarchists, environmentalists, and a surprising number of birthday celebrants.

Bring What You Expect to Find gathers the stories of the participants, why they have come, and what it means to be there, and what they’ll take away.

This is an immersive experience, so headphones are recommended.

Interviewees include
Rollo Moughling – Archdruid of Stonehenge and Britain
King Arthur Pendragon – Senior Druid and Pagan Priest
Simon Banton – archaeo-astronomer
Lorna Rees – earth science artist
Julian Richards – archaeologist and historian
Neil Wilkin – curator, British Museum
Kelly Marie, Paula, - pagans from Gloucestershrie
Kevin, Keith, Sharon, Tiger, Libby, Andy, Phil, et al – assorted celebrants

Ambisonic sound collection, design and composer Jon Nicholls.

Producers: Jessica Dromgoole and Mary Peate

A Hooley Production for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3