SIU Campus is hosting a commemoration event to bring students, faculty, and community members together to reflect on the unique experience.聽
Eva Fisher, Public Relations Officers of City of Carbondale says the eclipse was a community wide event last year, taking place all weekend long.聽
"Really just so much work that went into just聽a few minutes of the solar eclipse between city employees and SIU staff and faculty and residents, so we wanted to make sure that that work is honored still," says Fisher. "Thousands upon thousands of people traveled to Carbondale. We got to celebrate with a ton of events last year highlighting musicians and artists all over the region and just yeah really bringing that Carbondale sparkle to this, you know, celestial event."
Tourism and Special Events Coordinator of City of Carbondale,聽Dena Haun, says coordinators planned various events to host the thousands of visitors.聽"This was a huge collaborative effort聽between SIU, the City of Carbondale, and the extended聽network here of southern Illinois to be able to host thousands upon thousands of visitors here for this phenomenal聽celestial event," says Haun. "So, we had something for everyone from the Adler Planetarium that they they held the events on campus all the way to downtown for our Spring Festival."聽
While the next solar eclipse isn't visible in the contiguous聽United聽States for decades to come, the SIU Alumni Association announced they will be taking people聽abroad to see the next solar eclipse in Spain in 2026.
