Last weekend Inuvik celebrated the return of the sun after a month’s absence with the annual 3-day Sunrise Festival.
There was a dizzying number of activities available, including a bonfire, fireworks, a concert, a skidoo rally, an 'Ice Road Village' complete with igloos, a snow carving contest, reindeer to pet, dog sled rides with huskies, hot chocolate served from an ice bar with ice furniture, a pancake breakfast, downhill snow sledding, drum dancing and jigging, and a 'Taste of Inuvik' food festival.
Below are some photos of the igloos, snow sculptures and the ice bar that was set up on the surface of a frozen lake in town.
The sun officially made its appearance on January 6th, although we actually saw it over the horizon as early as January 2nd. As of today (January 17), we already have over 3 hours of sun, with sunrise at 12:26 pm and sunset at 3:44 pm. It will be back with a vengeance soon.
I’m sure there is a scientific explanation why the sun came back earlier than usual, but either way, we’re happy. A lot of people also said that the month of December was a lot less dark than it used to be, with a lot more light in the sky even though the sun was below the horizon. If anyone knows why this is the case, let me know!