Visitors pulling out all the stops to see the total solar eclipse in Niagara Falls
On Feb. 26, 1979, Rola Hamdi was playing with her toys in the Chicago, Ill. shop her family owned. The five-year-old girl was accompanying her dad, who was at work repairing a TV, as she would any other day.
Suddenly, Hamdi saw the morning sky go dark and people rush onto the street. At the time she was afraid, but now, the 50-year-old woman looks back at that memory with tenderness. She remembers how her dad picked her up to comfort her.
It was her first time experiencing a solar eclipse.
This spring, Hamdi hopes to share a similar experience with her 11year-old son. The mom, who now lives in San Diego, will be one of an estimated one million visitors to Niagara Falls on April 8, when the city will be in the path of totality for the solar eclipse. She, like many others, has pulled out all the stops to make the trip special.
“I’m just beyond excited,” Hamdi said.
During the total solar eclipse, people in Niagara Falls will see the moon completely block the face of the sun for about three and a half minutes starting at 3:20 p.m., although the eclipse will last about two hours in total. The GTA will not experience the totality.
It’ll be the first total solar eclipse in North America since 2017, and the first total solar eclipse over Niagara Falls since 1925.
Niagara Falls prepares its largest crowd to date
After National Geographic named the Falls a top spot to watch the eclipse, Mayor Jim Diodati told the Star the city is preparing to see “eight to nine times” more people than they’ve ever had at an event — including an event marking Nik Wallenda’s 10-year tightrope anniversary at the Falls in 2022 — which means the city expects about one million visitors.
The estimate comes from Oscarnominated production company Sandbox Films, which will be documenting “all aspects” of the eclipse there, along with filmmakers Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, Diodati said.
Excitement seems to be building as the eclipse date nears, he added.
“Most of the hotels are already full, and I’m hearing of people that have decided to rent their house out or rent rooms in their houses,” Diodati said.
“They’re just saying ‘This is just too neat and too much of an interesting thing to let pass up.’
“Niagara Falls is one of the great natural wonders of the world, and (the eclipse) is one of the really neat celestial wonders,” Diodati said. “I think it’s two things converging.”
Meanwhile, the Niagara Parks police, Regional police and traffic management workers in the city are collaborating to ensure the event is safe.
Visitors to Niagara Falls anticipate challenges — and a ‘magical’ moment
Although Rachel Buzza anticipates some logistical challenges for her trip to the Falls, she is undeterred.
Last month, the 25-year-old Toronto woman purchased bus tickets to commute there and back in a day because demand pushed hotel prices beyond her budget; a “half decent” accommodation cost $850, last she checked. (Hotel rooms overlooking the Falls are ranging from around $900 to $2,000 for that night now.)
She’s prepared to make the trip on her own, since none of her friends have committed to the trip, but she doesn’t mind.
“It’s gonna be pretty magical,” she said.
Aly Kamadia, the education director at the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Toronto), told the Star he also decided to make the trip “in hopes of witnessing a historical treasure.”
Still, he said he’s gearing up to face crowding and plenty of traffic. In December, he booked a few cancellation-friendly hotels (at prices he admitted were “astronomically” and unusually high) to help him work around that.
“My backup plan has been to turn this trip into a minivacation, in which I’m in Niagara a few days ahead of the traffic, and depart a few days after April 8,” he said.
Now, all he can do is hope that the conditions are right
“I’m crossing my fingers and praying to anything and everything that pesky clouds don’t decide to obstruct my view of enjoying what the sun and moon have to offer on that day,” he said, adding that a total solar eclipse won’t be seen anywhere in the country for about another two decades.
For Hamdi, this trip holds multiple meanings. She started thinking seriously about it during the height of the pandemic, after her separation, as the first “big trip” with her son. It’ll be her first time to Niagara Falls, and after a few days there, the two will visit New York.
Hamdi booked her hotel as soon as reservations became available — 13 months before the event — and managed to find regularly priced rooms with of the falls.
Noting that her son, who is on the Autism spectrum might not be comfortable in the big crowds, Hamdi booked the room with a view to make sure they experience the eclipse, no matter what happens.
“My son is not fully comprehending that we’re going to Niagara Falls … He’s a middle schooler,” she said. “But I know that once we’re there and he sees the buzz and the excitement, it’s really going to be something he remembers forever.”
Niagara prioritizing ‘safety preparedness’ and ‘entertainment’
For Mayor Diodati, planning for the eclipse is twofold — it requires plenty of safety prep and lots of entertainment.
There will be live music (including the Glorious Sons, pun intended) and free sun costumes handed out in an attempt to break a Guinness World Record for number of people wearing the same sun costume, Diodati said.
Although adding attractions may seem counterintuitive to beating crowding, the mayor explained that it’s actually part of the strategy so not everyone leaves at the same time, immediately after the eclipse.
“Everyone’s coming together to come up with a plan because we just want it to be a very positive experience,” he said. “We want the takeaway to be, ‘This was wellmanaged and it was a pretty amazing time,’ because people, I know it, will be talking about it for a long, long time.
“So much in the world today divides us — I think people are drawn to things that bring us together. I think Niagara is one of those magical, mystical places that has that impact on people.”