by Where will you be for the April 2024 total solar eclipse?
For most people in North America, on April 8, 2024, a partial solar eclipse will be visible, with the moon seeming to take a piece of the sun for a few hours. However, if you are within approximately 185 kilometers of totality, you have the opportunity to capture a rare total. solar eclipsewhen the solar disk is completely blocked and a mysterious twilight descends.
Related: Where is the best place to view the April 2024 total solar eclipse?
The all-important path of totality will pass through northwestern Mexico, 15 US states (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine) and five Canadian provinces (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland).
Although you can see the event anywhere in the path of totality with clear skies, many eclipse chasers are looking to share the experience with other enthusiasts.
“There are two completely different ways to experience a total solar eclipse,” Deb Ross, co-chair of the American Astronomical Society Solar Eclipse Task Force and chair of the Rochester Eclipse Task Force, told Space.com. “You can have a ‘me’ eclipse alone or with a few friends or family, or you can have a ‘we’ eclipse as part of a large crowd.”
Here are 10 fun viewing events and festivals to experience April’s total solar eclipse with others.
1. Southern Illinois Crossroads Eclipse Festival
Southern Illinois Crossroads Eclipse Festival
Location: Saluki Stadium; Southern Illinois University; Carbondale, Illinois (map)
Time and duration of totality: 1:59 pm CDT; 4 minutes and 9 seconds
There are few places on the planet as lucky as Carbondale, Illinois, which on August 21, 2017 experienced totality and will do so again on April 8, 2024. You can join thousands of eclipse chasers for the Southern Illinois Crossroads Eclipse Festival at Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Saluki Stadium, where Matt Kaplan, former presenter and creator of Rádio Planetária, will be the host and guide. Expect lectures and presentations, solar telescopes, lots of citizen science projects about eclipses, high-altitude balloon launches, and a crafts fair. Tickets It costs $25 for adults and $5 for children.
2. Totality over Texas
Totality over Texas
Location: Schreiner University; Kerrville, Texas (map)
Time and duration of totality: 1:32 pm CDT; 4 minutes and 23 seconds
Near San Antonio’s Central Line and Interstate 10, Kerrville will be busy on the day of the eclipse. Many will head to Louise Hays Park, where NASA will broadcast the Kerrville Eclipse Festival.”Dark in the park,” but that’s not the only event in town. At nearby Schreiner University, the first university in the U.S. to experience totality, a special event is planned April 4-8. It will include stargazing at the Loftis Observatory, guest speakers, movies and food. For $2,500 each, tickets They are expensive, but include a four-night stay, 13 meals, all activities, and more.
3. Eclipse Over Texas 2024: Live from Waco
Eclipse Over Texas 2024: Live from Waco
Location: McLane Stadium; Waco, Texas (map)
Time and duration of totality: 1:38 pm CDT; 4 minutes and 12 seconds
If you’re looking for an organized experience with telescopes, astronomers and guided observation (plus a 5K run), then you won’t get much better than this event in a 45,000-capacity stadium. It is being organized by the Lowell Observatory, based in Flagstaff, Arizona, which hosted a major event in Oregon in 2017 along with the city of Waco and Baylor University. Discovery Channel will broadcast the event live. Ticketsthat includes ISO certified solar windows, costs US$20 for adults and US$10 for children; parking costs $25.
4. Marco Zero Musical Festival
Marco Zero Musical Festival
Location: Mansfield Park Rodeo Arena, Bandera, Texas (map)
Time and duration of totality: 1:31 pm CDT; 4 minutes and 9 seconds
Amid much talk about rising prices and sold-out hotels, here’s proof that this eclipse doesn’t have to be expensive. This five-day festival (April 5-9) in the Texas Hill Country promises music, a rodeo, a car and truck show, a Discovery Dome of the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences and a “death Globe” motorcycle stunt show (where stuntmen ride motorcycles inside a mesh sphere). It all happens in Bandera, the self-proclaimed “Cowboy Capital of the World”. Tickets It costs $250 for RVs and $100 for camping.
5. ROC The Eclipse Festival
ROC The Eclipse Festival
Location: Rochester Museum and Science Center; Rochester, New York (map)
Time and duration of totality: 3:20 p.m. EDT; 3 minutes and 39 seconds
Several thousand people are expected to attend this three day event (April 6th to 8th) at Rochester Museum and Science Center. At the largely free event, festivities will include science speakers, music, hands-on NPR Science Friday activities, solar telescopes, food trucks and, most importantly, Rochester’s famous 6-foot-wide eclipse glasses (as well as places to buy smaller glasses). There will be two satellite events: one at the Strasenburgh Planetarium on April 5th, which will include guest speakers and planetarium shows, and a space-themed “Galactic Get Down” party on April 6th.
6. Mont Mégantic Observatory
Mount Mégantic Observatory
Location: ASTROLab, Mont-Mégantic Observatory, Mont-Mégantic National Park, Quebec (map)
Time and duration of totality: 3:28 pm EDT; 3 minutes and 28 seconds
A total solar eclipse rarely occurs directly above a famous astronomical observatory within an international territory. Dark Sky Reservebut this will happen on April 8th, when Mount Mégantic Observatory is eclipsed. An event for 2,500 people is planned, including an outdoor stage, a giant on-screen animation of the eclipse’s progress, and solar telescopes at the nearby ASTROLab museum. There will be silence throughout totality. Tickets includes bus transportation to the site.
7. Portal Conscious Eclipse Festival
Portal Conscious Eclipse Festival
Location: Ecoaldea Sembrando Vida, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico (map)
Time and duration of totality: 11:07 am (Brasília time); 4 minutes and 25 seconds
Most international visitors to Mazatlán — the first place to experience totality and one of the most likely to have clear skies — will stay in large hotels and resorts. However, this festival offers a different experience, with off-grid camping, yoga and DJs. It will take place from April 5th to 9th at an ecotourism resort called Sembrando Vida Ecovillage, near the beach south of Mazatlán. Tickets are $295.99.
8. The white
The White
Location: Jay Peak Resort; Jay, Vermont (map)
Time and duration of totality: 3:26 pm EDT; 3 minutes and 32 seconds
Few dedicated eclipse chasers will head to New England’s mountaintops, where clouds are likely, but skiers and snowboarders are The Whiteout’s target audience. Hosted by Vermont’s Jay Peak Resortthe event will feature Pink Floyd’s album “Dark Side of the Moon” performed by the tribute band Pink Talking Fish. Tickets It costs $365 per night for two people and $516 per night for a family of four.
9. Indianapolis Speedway
Indianapolis Speedway
Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis (map)
Time and duration of totality: 3:06 pm EDT; 3 minutes and 40 seconds
Group viewing locations don’t come much bigger than the 250,000-capacity Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and NASA will broadcast live from the giant venue. It will be the first time Indianapolis has experienced totality since the year 1204 and the last time until 2153. Indoor parking is included with each ticketwhich costs $15 per person.
10. KerrEclipse Folk Festival 2024
KerrEclipse Folk Festival 2024
Location: Silent Valley Ranch; Kerrville, Texas (map)
Time and duration of totality: 1:31 pm CDT; 4 minutes and 23 seconds
Here’s another music festival in the Texas Hill Country, but it usually takes place every year for 18 days. In 2024, its duration will be reduced (April 5th to 9th) but extended, as the headline will be a total solar eclipse. It is close to Bandera and the axis path of totality. Tickets It costs US$350 for adults and US$75 for children and includes shows and camping.
