The Midnight Sun Baseball Game: Fairbanks' Wildest Tradition

One of the strangest, most wonderful traditions in American sports happens in Fairbanks every solstice: a baseball game played late into the "night" with no artificial lights.

Since 1906

The Midnight Sun Game has been played in Fairbanks since 1906. The local team — the Alaska Goldpanners — takes the field for a game that starts in the evening and finishes around midnight, lit entirely by the solstice sun.

No lights needed

That's the whole point: at this latitude, around June 21 there's enough daylight to play a full game near midnight without flipping on a single stadium light.

How to go

The game is a Fairbanks summer institution and draws a crowd — check the schedule around the solstice and get tickets ahead.

More Fairbanks solstice fun: our Midnight Sun Festival guide and things to do for the solstice.