Here comes the sun!

In the midd­le of Febru­a­ry she shows herself for the first time after the long polar­night. But first on March 8th her rays reach Lon­gye­ar­by­en, which is sur­roun­ded by moun­tains. The return of the sun is cele­bra­ted by the inha­bi­tants of Spits­ber­gen one week with open-air ser­vices, exhi­bi­ti­ons and con­certs. Even the avalan­che warning, which is still valid, can not cast a shadow on this event.

Many popu­lar Nor­we­gi­an musi­ci­ans are com­ing to Lon­gye­ar­by­en in the­se days. The Elek­tro­po Duo Bow To Each Other, the Rap­per OnklP Og De Fje­r­ne Slekt­nin­ge­ne (“Uncle P and the remo­te rela­ti­ves”) and the most nort­hern blues band of the world, the Advent Bay Pool­boys.

The high­light of the week hap­pens on the 8th of March, when ever­y­bo­dy shows up in front of the old hos­pi­tal to wel­co­me the sun tog­e­ther. Child­ren have their necks deco­ra­ted with a yel­low felt sun. When the sun throws its rays onto the sta­ir steps of the buil­ding for the first time, she will be tra­di­tio­nal­ly gree­ted with cheers and sin­ging and her return will be offi­cial­ly decla­red.

Sources: Sval­bard­pos­ten, Solfestuke.no

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