Mount Auburn Cemetery’s ‘Solstice’ is back to brighten dark December nights

A longing for light becomes palpable as the sun’s time with us dwindles each December. But Mount Auburn Cemetery is back to brighten the darkest days of the year with its annual “Solstice” experience. The fifth iteration of this immersive event is underway with more dazzling visual and audio wizardry from the artists of Boston’s MASARY Studios.

As bundled up visitors wander through the historic burial ground’s landscape they’ll encounter four newly-commissioned works. There’s a cosmic light and sound installation in Hazel Dell that’s inspired by the life cycle of a star, and also an activation of 200-year-old oak trees.

Two fresh, kaleidoscopic animations are being projected on Bigelow Chapel’s gothic facade.

Mount Auburn Cemetery’s CEO and president Matthew Stephens told WBUR's Amy Sokolow that “Solstice” is much more than a light show.

“It’s really intended to create a moment of reflection and inspiration for our community,” he said.

A lantern walk and an invitation to light candles inside the music-filled chapel spur people to slow down and ponder the past year along with the one to come. “Will it be filled with darkness,” Stephens asked, “or will it be filled with light?”

Wandering around a cemetery on a black December night might not sound appealing, but more than 16,000 people braved the bitter cold to attend “Solstice” in 2024.

Solstice 2025 runs through the darkest day of the year on Dec. 21. “As an active, working cemetery — when you lose someone — that’s usually a very dark time,” Stephens said. “And then hopefully you move a little bit more light thereafter. And so I think the solstice is a meaningful way to convey our mission.”

“We each arrive at the winter solstice carrying something of our own: grief, wonder, contemplation, connection,” MASARY cofounder Sam Okerstrom-Lang said in this season's announcement. “Together these experiences form a collective poem—fragmented yet whole, personal yet shared—and are all welcomed to be felt during the event.”

Some logistics: There’s food and beverages on site. Parking is offsite nearby. For tickets and additional information visit www.mountauburnsolstice.org.