It is all hands on deck at one small North Texas city, which will be directly in the path of a rare solar eclipse on April 8.
The City of Ennis — home to around 26,000 people — is expecting somewhere between 50,000 and 200,000 eclipse seekers to visit because it is one of the prime locations to view the rare solar eclipse. Visitors from across the world have already booked their trips to Ennis, with some hailing from as far as New Zealand.
As previously covered in The Dallas Express, the total solar eclipse this spring is the must-see skywatching event of the year. It will start on the Mexican coast at about 11:07 a.m. and head northeast into the United States, passing over North Texas.
In Ennis, totality is expected to last 4 minutes and 23 seconds, considerably longer than neighboring cities. This includes Dallas, some 40 miles to the north, which will have totality for 3 minutes and 49 seconds.
Ashley Colunga, marketing and communications director for Ennis, explained to The Dallas Express that the city is no stranger to foot traffic due to its approximately 40 miles of bluebonnet trails. However, the number of eclipse seekers expected to pour in is unprecedented, meaning local authorities, police, emergency services, school officials, and more have been mobilized to help prepare for it.
For instance, as previously covered in The Dallas Express, Ennis Independent School District has decided to close its schools on the eclipse day in anticipation of heavy traffic.
Colunga explained how Ennis has even reached out to Sweetwater, Tennessee, the epicenter of a solar eclipse in 2017, to get advice ahead of the sudden influx of visitors.
“You know, it’s the closest thing that we can get to to help us prepare for this,” she said.
Already, an array of activities and amenities have been rolled out ahead of the eclipse, including a Downtown Ennis Watch Party, an eclipse and wine event at Sugar Ridge Winery, and a pop-up campsite venue called Camp Cosmic. As Colunga explained, the Downtown Watch Party will have live music and food trucks, and act as a hub for all other events happening around town.
While poor weather could mean a low turnout for Ennis, the city has to plan for everything.
“We’re hoping for clear weather … but we can’t control that. It’s kind of funny because this is a huge event for us and we have no control over it,” Colunga said, drawing a parallel with bluebonnet season, which is also in April.
In fact, with Ennis’ bluebonnet festival being held on April 19-21, the city hopes people will come for the eclipse and stay for the bluebonnets, or vice versa, according to Colunga.
