This Northern Iceland Town Doesn’t See the Sun for 9 Weeks — Here’s How They Celebrate When It Finally Reappeared

Daylight in Ólafsfjörður, Iceland at 2:30 p.m.

Leftover shipping palettes, cable spools, and scraps of wood are collected and brought to the town’s central location on the beach for the New Year’s Eve bonfire.

The countdown for longer days begins as a full moon rises over the ocean.

During winter in North Iceland, clear days and daylight are rare. I took advantage of both by hiking with friends from Listhús artist residency on a cliffside-trail paved by sheep to see a lighthouse at the edge of the fjord. The sun was hidden behind the mountains.

Locals gathered around the beach for the firework display put on by the search and rescue team.

The pile of wood scraps on the beach surrounded by snow is set on fire as a prelude to the New Year's Eve festivities.

At this point, I have lost any sense of routine and my circadian rhythm has been thrown out the window. So what does a photographer do at one in the morning? Walk around town to photograph snow falling on the trees. Mornings are dark but the town is easily lit up by nearby lights. The sun didn’t “rise” until 11:15 a.m.

The entire town can be seen from an avalanche protection structure called Snjóvarnargarður behind the senior center (and hospital) but hopes of seeing the sun is lost to another snowstorm.

Ólafsfjörður from the beach.

The only sign of the sun shining on the mountaintops.

In two days, the sun will rise above the mountains. For now, a little tease on the frozen lake will suffice.

Sigurður Mar, one of ten Norse priests in Iceland, performing the sun ceremony, Sólarblót, on the day we should have seen the sun.

"We have adapted to modern technology so I will read from my phone," Siggi said before reading an old Norse text in Icelandic. When deprived of the sun, a little humor goes a long way.

Everyone at the ceremony hailed to something — the sun, nature, uncertainty, trust — before drinking from the ram's horn.

Left: Locals haven’t seen the sun in 8 weeks. Right: Siggi dressed in brown linen and reindeer skin with a custom-made copper ring. Despite the snowstorm and not actually seeing the sun, the ceremony seemed to lift people spirits.