Midnight Sun Festival 2012

Last night my family and I made the repetitive mistake of going to the downtown Midnight Sun Festival for the ten thousandth consecutive year. For those of you that are not from or have never been to Alaska, this

festival is to celebrate solstice, the longest day of the year. In Alaska, solstice brings an entire day of sunlight, hence the term "Midnight Sun". What solstice also brings, is an endless amount of people, most of

which, should not be allowed in public. The festival is held on the streets of downtown Fairbanks Alaska,

covering from first to third avenue. In this very small area are crammed hundreds, or maybe a thousand

people, covered in sweat and chewing their food quite loudly. The food at this event is fantastic, but good

luck getting any, because the lines are fifty people deep, and the prices are enough to break Donald Trumps

wallet. While walking and seeing the sparse and predictable booths, you run into old friends or acquaintances, chit chat and move on. About ten minutes later, you have seen all there is to see, but for the

sake of tradition, you stay longer. Along with food booths and local junk vendors, other attractions include a

mechanical salmon ride for the kids, a rock climbing wall, bouncy house and a inflatable obstacle course.

Don't forget about the overweight belly dancers and awful live music. I just looked up and skimmed over

what I have wrote and realized I am being very negative about the festival, and could quite possibly scare

away a first timer, so let me partially correct myself. This event is very worthwhile if you are a tourist, a

teenager, or a small child. My viewpoints are also skewed due to the fact that I am a family man, attempting

to navigate through the shoulder to shoulder traffic with my wife and three kids in tow. Now back to the

negativity.

Pop quiz: You have just purchased a delicious treat and are looking for a location to stop and enjoy it,which

location is best suited for this?

A. Table

B. Curb

C. Grassy Area

D. Right in the middle of a walkway currently occupied by over five hundred walking people.

In any normal situation someone would choose either A,B, or C. At the MSF, the obvious choice is D. It

almost seems as if only people who have no awareness of their own surroundings attend this event. The only

silver lining that I find is the "Midnight Sun Mayhem" pride style cage fights that take place across the bridge.

This is an outdoor event, full of violence and ass-kickery.2012 marked the second annual, and it was a great

event, I highly recommend it. If you were looking for a positive review or a crazy story, I apologize.Before I

wrap this up I will give a quick Pros and Cons list for those who want the cliffs notes version.

Pros:

Good food

See old friends

Something to do in Fairbanks

Cons:

Highly likely that you will contract a disease

Long food lines

See old friends

Lose child

Get mugged

Very crowded

No parking

Fat dancers

Bad music

Bad skateboarding

Ugly people

Body odor

Lots of emo/goths

Expensive food

People trying to get you to vote

People trying to get you to sign a petition

Drunk natives

The list can go on forever. If you are wondering if you are grouped in with the "Ugly people" or "Body odor"

people, then you probably are. Or any of the other classifications for that matter. I don't mean to be hard on

you, but it's my job. You stay classy Fairbanks.