Summer Solstice at the Heart of Newcastle!

Written By Dwellbeing Shieldfield

Dwellbeing member, Maria, shares her reflections on the Summer Solstice Celebration which took place on Saturday 21st June 2025 in Shieldfield. 


Once again Sheildfield celebrated the longest day of the year in style filled with love, laughter, a great community, and traditions.


The event started just after midday in the beautiful garden at Shielfield Art Works (SAW). The soothing voice of yoga instructor, Nicola, from our local studio Yoga X Life, made everyone feel mentally and physically relaxed and ready for more adventures that were prepared for the day.

The event continued with our traditional garlic and onion harvesting starting at SAW garden and continuing further in the heart of the community. All the visitors were more than  happy to get dirty and take on digging in the mud. Our crops were shared among the community later on. After the harvesting was done, children took on the role of planting sunflower seedlings in a planter near the Thornford Medical Centre. The seedlings were sown in May by Little Growers, children in Shieldfield, and with water, sunshine and care, they will soon be standing tall and brightening up the place.

All the hard work deserves some reward and what better way to celebrate than with food and music. Local musicians Kaleidoscope Collective and members of Shieldfield Youth Programme performed to the crowd. Big River Bakery donated bread made with our locally grown garlic and rosemary and Dwellbeing Community Chefs  prepared delicious food with flavours from across the world at the Forum Cafe. There was joy in the air and so we were not put off  when the rain came. Our amazing team moved the chairs and tables undercover and we carried on enjoying our celebrations.

We were joined by Hollie and Emily from the Natural History Society of Northumbria who led a ‘bio blitz’ helping us to identify bugs and plants in and around the park. Helen, Ken and Qetsia from Dwellbeing’s Community Evaluators hosted a stall with games and a chance to win a supermarket voucher.


The Summer Solstice brought our community together. Visitors enjoyed food, music and chit chatting with their neighbours. Kids filled the street with laughter and chalk drawings. 

Those who were working behind the scenes could not have wished for more!


Images: Victoria Doyle



The event was part of Shieldfield Grows, a programme of activity that promotes sustainable food production, fair land use and community flourishing, developed by Dwellbeing Shieldfield and Shieldfield Art Works.

The day was planned and organised by volunteers from Shieling Working Group and Dwellbeing Community Chefs. If you’d like to be involved in future events, please get in touch to find out about the many ways you can volunteer.

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