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The sun doesn鈥檛 set for 69 days over Norway鈥檚 Sommar酶y. Locals now want to do away with 鈥榰nnecessary鈥� time during that period.

Sommar酶y locals want to go 鈥渢ime-free鈥� for the summer by introducing more flexible school and working hours.

UPDATE: Innovation Norway has confirmed . The misguided Pr stunt cost the Norwegian taxpayer half a million kroner. The Director has apologised.

Residents of the Island are pushing to remove traditional business hours and 鈥渃onventional time-keeping鈥� to make the most of their long summer days.

A small island in Troms

Sommar酶y is located west of Kval酶ya, the large island immediately to the west of 罢谤辞尘蝉酶. It is connected to the mainland by a series of bridges. Driving to Sommar酶y from 罢谤辞尘蝉酶 itself takes about one hour.

During the period 18 May to 26 July, the small population of 350 islanders enjoy the midnight sun, when the sun doesn鈥檛 dip below the horizon.

The island鈥檚 economy is driven by fishing and tourism. It鈥檚 the latter that seems the driver of this quirky plan, given the publicity it has gained in the worlds media.

Sommar酶y local Kjell Ove Hveding travelled to Oslo to present MPs with a petition signed by dozens of islanders. The signatories support the creation of a so-called 鈥渢ime-free zone鈥�.

He was also planning to discuss any practical and legal obstacles. While he admits the plan sounds 鈥渁 bit crazy鈥�, he also says they are serious.

Making the most of time by doing without it

The concept of a time-free zone is simple. Getting rid of time would make the lives of residents easier during the endless summer days. Doing without clocks 鈥渋s a great solution but we likely won鈥檛 become an entirely time-free zone as it will be too complex,鈥� Hveding says.

鈥淏ut we have put the time element on the agenda, and we might get more flexibility. The idea is also to chill out. I have seen people suffering from stress because they were pressed by time鈥�, he says.

Despite wanting rid of it, time seems something of an obsession for islanders. The bridge to the island is covered not with padlocks, rather with watches.

Nothing but a publicity stunt

Critics of the plan (me included) have dismissed the petition as nothing more than a publicity stunt for the island鈥檚 tourism industry, including the local hotel.

Should such a plan ever be implemented, it will interesting to see how a Norwegian hotel deals with a guest expecting a three-course dinner at the time formerly known as 7am. Will they be told to come back later? How?

Still, the publicity stunt has worked and fair play to them for that! For a few days in June 2019, the world knew of Sommar酶y.

鈥淭he widespread popularity of the initiative has gone far beyond our expectations. This is not a new concept to us. We merely want to formalize our island鈥檚 way of living. We don鈥檛 want to know what time it is, we want to have fun together and enjoy what the moment, the nature, and our community provides,鈥� says Hveding.