 Summer solstice. The summer solstice or estic ball solstice also known as Midsummer, occurs when one of the Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere northern and southern. For that hemisphere, the summer solstice is when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky and is the day with the longest period of daylight. At the pole, there is continuous daylight around the summer solstice. On the summer solstice, Earth's maximum axial tilt toward the Sun is 23.4 degrees. Likewise, the Sun's declination from the celestial equator is 23.4 degrees. The summer solstice occurs during the hemisphere's summer. This is the June solstice in the northern hemisphere and the December solstice in the southern hemisphere. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the summer solstice occurs sometime between June 20th and June 22nd in the northern hemisphere and between December 20th and December 23rd in the southern hemisphere. The same dates in the opposite hemisphere are referred to as the winter solstice. Since prehistory, the summer solstice has been seen as a significant time of year in many cultures and has been marked by festivals and rituals. Traditionally, in many temperate regions especially Europe the summer solstice is seen as the middle of summer and referred to as Midsummer. Today, however, in some countries and calendars it is seen as the beginning of summer.