Most people expect nightfall to arrive at some point in the day. In one remote corner of Alaska, that simply stops happening for weeks, disrupting normal circadian rhythms in ways that can feel deeply disorienting to visitors. Residents in Utqiagvik, the northernmost town in the United States, have now entered the annual ‘midnight sun’ season, a strange period when the sun remains visible around the clock. The town will not experience another proper sunset until early August, creating nearly three months of continuous daylight. For outsiders, it sounds almost unreal. Bright skies at midnight, children playing outdoors late into the evening, locals heading out for walks while the clock says it is technically night-time.
Yet for the people living above the Arctic Circle, this unusual cycle has become part of everyday life, even if it still feels slightly surreal each year when the darkness disappears again.
