Let there be light! Today, 16 February, the people in and around Longyearbyen were able to enjoy the first sunrise since 25 October, at least in theory. In between was the polar night, which has now come to an end.
Shortly after noon, however, the sun barely managed to reach 0.16 degrees above the horizon, hiding behind the mountains of Longyearbyen. It will only return to Longyearbyen on 8 March.
But on the heights around Longyearbyen it was possible to catch a few rays at midday today, like here on the slope of Hiorthfjellet on the north side of the Adventfjord.
The first sunrise of the year on 16 February at midday over Adventdalen.
A few clouds made sure you didn’t get an overdose of sunshine.
And if that was too much, you can always take refuge in the glacier cave at Longyearbreen.
Glacier cave in Longyearbreen.
There it is really – REALLY! – dark without a lamp.
Glacier cave in Longyearbreen without lamp 😄.
The days when the polar night meant only darkness and scurvy are long gone. Today Longyearbyen offers a lot of variety even in the dark winter. The cultural calendar always offers a lecture (often in Norwegian) or other smaller events.
Sometimes there are larger events, such as the Polarjazz jazz festival last weekend. Just as the Dark Seasons Blues Festival at the end of October, Polarjazz features local artists as well as well-known Norwegian and international musicians. Both festivals have been an integral part of Svalbard’s cultural calendar for many years.
Longyearbyen’s music scene kicks off
Polarjazz was opened on Thursday evening in Kulturhuset (the cultural centre) by a number of local artists. It is impressive how many active musicians Longyearbyen has to offer – after all, it is a village with a population of around 2500. But how many villages with a population of 2500 can put together a programme of almost three hours, with hardly anyone on stage for more than one song?
Opening evening of the Polarjazz festival
with musicians from Longyearbyen at the Kulturhus.
Commissioned work for the Spitsbergen Treaty
The programme continued until Sunday, with numerous events. One of the highlights was undoubtedly the world premiere of a work by Bugge Wesseltoft in the Huset, commissioned and realised for the 100th anniversary of the Spitsbergen Treaty, which came into force in 1925. In the nine sequences of his work, Wesseltoft has incorporated everything he associates with Svalbard, both sonically and visually, to the delight of audiences and critics alike.
World premiere of the work by Bugge Wesseltoft at Huset.
Few, if any, seem to have noticed that he chose the Wellman-Bjørvig-Bentsen story, a drama from 1898-99 set in the Russian archipelago Franz Josefs Land, for the section devoted to the dramatic history of the various north pole expeditions, or they have simply overlooked it.
Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen
Another highlight was the performance of Sami singer and actress Ella Marie in Kulturhuset. Here the music was hot and loud, with modern sounds that didn’t lose their cultural roots. The political messages were not neglected either, such as the politically committed Sami singer’s unmistakable greeting to the Norwegian government, in which two middle fingers played the leading roles. Anyone who has the chance to see Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen, as she is known in full, on stage should not miss it.
Ella Marie and band on stage in kulturhuset.
If you are thinking about taking a cultural trip to the polar night, you can take a look at the programme on their own website (2026 is still a long way off, although preparations are already underway behind the scenes).
And what else? The light is coming back, the dark core of the polar night is giving way to daylight. But it will be a few weeks before the sun really comes back again.
View over the campsite on Tuesday at noontime: the polar night is coming to an end.
As usual, a few more pictures for further impressions:
The title might make your thoughts go astray 🤪 but don’t worry, this post doesn’t need an age limit.
I recently mentioned ‘Jernsenga’, ‘the iron bed’ in Adventdalen. If you want to know what that is all about and what the story behind it is, you can take a look at a new page I have created since then. Just click here and you’ll be in Adventdalen in your mind’s eye.
And as a visual highlight, there is a panoramic view on that page, taken in this incredibly beautiful red light that we recently had. It really looks like what I imagine it would look like on Mars, it was quite incredible!
So as not to spoil anything, there’s no picture here now. But you will of course find pictures on the new Jernsenga page.