Hey! So I'm one of the organizers for the 2025 Bay Area Secular Summer Solstice and we're seeking input from people planning to attend. In particular, Solstice has been at Miller-Knox for the past several years and we'd like to move it somewhere else for this year. 

Rachel Shu, the 2024 organizer, posted about doing Solstice on Angel Island back in June. The basic idea is that Angel Island could be a temporary, alternate world that facilitates a deeper collective experience: Summer Solstice is about agency, freedom, solutionism, physical embodiment, cooperation, and fun — and Angel Island has a mountain peak to climb, crumbling ruins to explore, forests to hike, and beaches to swim from. 

If you are planning to attend the next Bay Area Summer Solstice, does this idea excite you, or would you prefer a different venue, such as the Marin Headlands (the original Secular Summer Solstice venue)? Short survey here, or comments welcome below. We plan to make a decision in the next couple weeks, so now is a great time for input!

Quick pros of Angel Island:

• Logistics are easier than they might seem: we can charter dedicated ferry rides at good times and have a boat on hand to take people back to the mainland if they need to leave in the middle and the regular ferry's intervals aren't enough.
• we visited to suss it out and it's a much more interesting area than Miller-Knox (also, there's a great spot for the sunset).
• higher commitment = greater chance for community and connection.
• shared unique travel experience on boat = (maybe) bonding experience & alternative world feeling.
• Chance for camping.

Quick cons of Angel Island:

• Higher total travel time and more complex than Marin Headlands (~30-50 minutes of driving + 15 minute ferry vs 50 minute drive).
• Would be more expensive (think $30 - 40 / person).
• Seems like the Marin Headlands could also provide a lot of similar benefits.

Would also welcome additional collaborators on Summer Solstice 2025.