#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. For 45 days, until January 13, the sun at our latitude does not appear above the horizon.
Due to weather conditions and landscape, Norilsk residents may miss the solar disk for longer – because of the mountains or clouds. Norilsk central district’s residents do not always see a ray of light in the dark Norilsk kingdom on the appointed day and hour. They say that the first to enjoy seeing the sun after polar night are the Medvezhy Roochey quarry’s employees who work ‘on the mountain’, the residents of Talnah and Taimyr. They often publish the first photographs of the luminary on social networks.
The true date of the polar night beginning and end at the Norilsk latitude turned out to be a controversial issue. The discussion on this topic has been going on for several years; according to some local historians, there is even a formula for correctly calculating the onset and end of darkness.
While weather forecasters, local historians and shamans argue about day and night, more enterprising people have put the sun issue on a ‘productive’ basis and hold, if not rituals, then at least sun holidays, mini-festivals, lectures and debates with songs and dances. Advice from rehabilitation doctors and specialists in various health systems is published on how best to get out of the polar night. So this January, the Sun festival is expected in Norilsk on January 20 with a tour of the truly northern national ensemble of the same name – Heiro (eng.: Sun) from Dudinka.
In Russia, in addition to Norilsk, the polar night can be observed in Apatity, Bilibino, Verkhoyansk, Vorkuta, Zapolyarny, Igarka, Kandalaksha, Kirovsk, Kola, Labytnangi, Monchegorsk, Murmansk, Naryan-Mar, Olenegorsk, Pevek, Polyarnye Zory, Polyarny, Salehard, Severomorsk and many other large and small settlements of the Russian Arctic.
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Text: Denis Kozhevnikov, Photo: author
