For a lot of residents, it's the reason they moved to Alaska and the reason they stay through long, dark winters. For tourists, it's a chance to gawk at the locals partying past their bedtime. For merchants, it's a chance to cash in on the fun with another excuse for a sale. Many retailers will be open with special deals tonight until ten or 11 p.m., or even midnight. The downtown association started it's now annual Street Fair at noon today.
Events continue until midnight with live bands, food booths, gold panning and kids events.
The Fairbanks Community Band plays at Golden Heart Park at 7 p.m., unless they're rained out. While the Midnight Sun street fair is a tradition in Fairbanks, a not-so traditional event is also being held to mark the summer solstice. At noon, the Messiah Marathon kicked off with the help from North Pole's Christ Tabernacle. The Messiah Marathon had 27 different groups participating in the event, which were reading all 28 books included in the New Testament. Some of the classic Biblical tales in the New Testament include the tracing of Jesus's life and his teachings.