CERES Winter Solstic 2026

We had good memories of the Winter Solstice at Ceres in 2024 so we went again.  This year it was done differently with a family friend Friday night and an adult only celebration the next night.  We went on Saturday which was different from last time, with a craft market and a gorgeous festive space in an old train carriage, as well as the usual food trucks and music.  It was a rainy night but so enjoyable to spend the wet dark night at CERES where, as the website said "a time to reflect, reconnect, and celebrate the light’s return."

with a small craft market with lots of great products.  I really loved how they decorated an old train with a Christmas tree and candles and reflective words.  

Combined the lights in the darkness, the pagan celebrations 

dark - different from last time - kids and adults

This year we will be holding not one, but two solstice celebrations – a family-friendly Friday night and an adult-only celebration. Both will culminate in 

website

kids celebrations and fun but adults more reflection and reconnection  

When we arrived about 5.30, it was still light and the rain was holding off.  We were greeted with the stals in the Mystic Marketpace.  I enjoy arriving at a party early to get my bearings before it gets too lively.  That was how this felt.  (The tickets to the event were booked out well in advance.)

Soon the darkness fell upon us to provide a canvas for the warm glow of welcoming lights.  We love visiting this beautiful green community environmental space that is a green oasis in the midst of our city.  It was lovely to see it lit up on the longest night of the year.

The market stalls were mostly crafts; lots of candles and crystals with the occasional honey and fudge.  One of my favourite stalls was the Beaded Petal Co where beads had been painstakingly threaded onto wires and bent into exquisite flowers.  You can see a close up of the flowers in the below photo collage.
 

We moved on into the indoor market with more interesting products on offer.  One of my favourite stalls had the sea anemone and air plant jelly fish.  I loved the dark wicca illustrations and jewelley and there were many candles and crystals to add to the gentle lighting.  It was still fairly quiet when we first looked but really busy later.  

The winter solstice is the perfect time for mulled wine and I am quite partial to a snifter.  I bought some in the CERES Merri Cafe & Bar near the car park but it was also on offer further towards the creek among the food trucks.  I was pleased I remembered to take a keep cup even though I could not find my glass keep cup.  It was just the warming drink I needed for the wintery evening.

We didn't go to the uv face painting station but instead walked down the hill to the music and food trucks space under rows of ligths.  I was delighted with some native Australian animal lights.  Above is a pink koala.

Behind this fun possum light you can see the "stage"for the bands.  The live music added to the mellow mood.  Unfortunately it was not great weather to stand around watching the bands.

We wanted to chec out the food trucks before there were any queues.  Sylvia had decided she would make a beeline for Wokking Amazing which you can see behind the kangaroo light above.  The brightly painted and brightly lit truck beckons in the darkness.

I was keen to try the Samosa Chaat a the Purple rabbit food truck.  It was an Indian inspired meal of -smashed samosa in a chickpea curry served with mint tamarind chutne, cashew yoghurt and a crispy potato topping.  

We stopped at the CERES Kitchen stall which was serving cakes and hot drinks.  Sylvia was impressed that the Chai latte was vegan.  (I was surprised that despite many being made with soy milk, not all of them are because there can be honey added on milk in the chair mix.)  She enjoyed her warming drink.

Once we had our meals and drinks, it was cold and drizzling with so we headed to the sheltered half of the building with the band on the other side.  In the foreground of the picture is a little wombat light.

The sheltered space had floral arrangements where mulled wine and other alcoholic drinks were being sold at a bar.  There were only a handful of tables which were already occupied.  We asked to share a table with two free chairs and were welcomed by a couple of friendly women.  As we ate and chatted, the space filled up and got noisy with all the socialising as well as the live music behind the bar.

Sylvia had bought a Peking duck pancake and a nuggets and chips munch box from Wokking Amazing and was very pleased with her choices.  I had some of the chips but was not so keen on nuggets or mock duck.  My samosa chaat was very satisfying and I was glad it was not too spicy for me. 

CERES has an old Red Rattler train carriage and it was very welcome with the wet cold night.  It is two spaces with tarot readings in one half and a reflective festive space in the other half. 

Christmas decorations can sometimes seem like the commercial part of a religious event.  The festive space in the train with a Christmas tree, candles and greenery felt more authentic.  It makes so much more sense to have them in winter than in our usual summer Christmas.  It seemed more in sync with nature and the focus was on reflecting on the cycles of nature and the candles being symbolic of calling the sun.

I really loved this space but it was busy.  We had a short queue outside to get in and were directed to move in a line along the displays rather than being able to really stop and reflect in the way I would have liked.  Having said this, I found it a calm and hopeful space.

Along the way were contemplative readings among the candles and fairy light that were keeping the dark at bay.  People were quiet as they slowly moved through the carriage and there was a sense that the space was as sacred as any church.

At the end of the journey was a place where we were invited to write down our obstacles in life to be burnt to ashes and our intentions that we wished to bring to the light which would be planted to create fertile soil and new life.

It was odd to step outside back into the world.  More people were queuing to get in and there was another queue nearby for the tarot card readings.  

We stood by one of the fire pits to warm up in the drizzling rain.  A small woman at our side talked to us about how she was about to have her first performance as a fire dancer and of her respect for the flames.  I really wanted to stay to see the fire sculpture that was promised as a spectacular finale but it was rainy and the ground was pitted with puddles.  Instead we headed home feeling the calm and glow of the solstice.

CERES Winter Solstice
Corner Roberts & Stewart Streets
Brunswick East, VIC 3057
5pm - 10pm, Saturday 20 June 2026
https://ceres.org.au/winter-solstice/

To see links to most posts on CERES, go to my CERES Winter Solistice 2024 post.