One of the Valley's top Christmas traditions is back for another year, as the Bright Up the Night light display will open at the Alaska State Fair on Thanksgiving.
The Bright Up the Night event at the fair consists of more than 70 holiday light displays across the fairgrounds. It's the largest drive-through holiday light display in Alaska, and is the perfect way to get into the spirit of the season.
From the warmth and safety of your own car, you can proceed about a mile through the fairgrounds from the Purple Gate to the Green Gate to see the amazing displays, which are coordinated to music you can tune in on your car radio. The event has become a holiday tradition in Palmer since 2020.
The annual event begins November 23 on Thursday through Sunday at first, then switching to daily from December 14 daily through December 31, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.alaskastatefair.org and are on sale now. Personal use vehicles (up to eight people) are $20, a van or limo (nine to 20 passengers) is $35, and a motorcoach (21-50 people) is $70. All these ticket prices are $5 more if purchased at the gate, so look into reserving your tickets online. There are a limited number of tickets available for each time slot to ensure everyone can enjoy the light display at their own pace.
The Palmer Museum of History and Art is again sponsoring Beyond the Classroom for students in grades 9-12. This program allows students to submit one piece of their creative work to be critiqued by art professionals. The best three submissions will win a cash prize; the art program at the winning artist’s school will win $250 for their art program.
PMHA will also sponsor a reception for artists, their families, and their teachers. Artwork will be
displayed at the museum, including the opportunity for students to sell their work, if desired.
The guidelines are outlined in the submission form. Work should be brought to the Museum between
January 10-12, with a deadline of 4 PM on January 12, 2024. Artists may bring their work or teachers
may bring the work of several students.
We appreciate your help in getting the word out to your students so that they have time to choose their
best work for this opportunity.
Please call if you have questions. I am currently the Interim Executive Director of the Palmer Museum of History and Art. Call 907-232-3712 or send an email to director@palmermuseum.org.
The Beauty of Alaskan Winter
(from Wikipedia)
Strictly speaking, alpenglow refers to indirect sunlight reflected or diffracted by the atmosphere after sunset or before sunrise. This diffuse illumination creates soft shadows in addition to the reddish color. The term is also used informally to include direct illumination by the reddish light of the rising or setting sun, with sharply defined shadows.
When the Sun is below the horizon, sunlight has no direct path to reach a mountain. Unlike the direct sunlight around sunrise or sunset, the light that causes alpenglow is reflected off airborne precipitation, ice crystals, or particulates in the lower atmosphere. These conditions differentiate between direct sunlight around sunrise or sunset and alpenglow.[2]
The term is generally confused to be any sunrise or sunset light reflected off the mountains or clouds, but alpenglow in the strict sense of the word is not direct sunlight and is only visible after sunset or before sunrise.[1]
After sunset, if mountains are absent, aerosols in the eastern sky can be illuminated in a similar way by the remaining scattered reddish light above the fringe of Earth's shadow. This backscattered light produces a pinkish band opposite of the Sun's direction, called the Belt of Venus.[3]
