After enduring the long polar night, when the sun doesn’t rise from November to January, the residents of Sommarøy try to make the most of summer, when the sun stays up in the sky from May 18 to July 26. During this time, conventional timekeeping is virtually ignored, and it’s not uncommon to see people doing all kinds of things at late hours of the “night” – say 3 a.m – like doing house chores, swimming or playing ball in their yards. Since it’s always daylight, everyone sleeps whenever they feel like it. It’s been like this for generations, but now the people of Sommarøy want to officially declare their island a time-free zone.

“There’s constantly daylight, and we act accordingly,” Sommarøy resident Kjell Ove Hveding said. “In the middle of the night, which city folk might call ‘2 a.m.,’ you can spot children playing soccer, people painting their houses or mowing their lawns, and teens going for a swim. To many of us, getting this in writing would simply mean formalizing something we have been practicing for generations.”

It may seem like a joke, or a promotional stunt – and it’s true that Sommarøy has received a tourism boost after the plan was announced – but locals are taking it seriously. They’ve already met with a member of Norway’s Parliament to hand over their petition signatures and discus the practical and legal implications of their endeavor. If they are successful the 300-plus inhabitants of Sommarøy plan to make school and working hours more flexible by ignoring traditional opening hours.

Source: OddityCentral