Towns under 2024 solar eclipse's path of totality begin preparing for rare event

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Towns across North America are preparing for a solar eclipse event that will not repeat for another 21 years.

The Great North American Solar Eclipse is set to arch through Mexico, the United States and Canada on April 8, 2024, Fox Weather reports.

WHAT CAUSES A TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE?

The astronomical event will be most intense in a strip of area that crests through Mexico, the middle of Texas, parts of at least 14 other continental states, and southeastern Canada.

The diamond ring appears as the moon passes beyond the edge of the sun during the Great American Solar Eclipse at Madras High School in Madras, Oregon, on Aug. 21, 2017. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun and scores a bull's-eye by completely blotting out the sunlight.

The April 2024 eclipse will be the last of its kind in North America until 2045.

LAST SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 2022 STUNS SKYWATCHERS

People attend a solar eclipse viewing event at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, on Aug. 21, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhao Hanrong via Getty Images)

Cities and towns along the route that will experience the totality are already preparing celebrations and viewing parties.

A multi-day festival is planned for Del Rio, Texas, called "Solar Eclipse Fest" — it is set to begin on April 5 and end April 9.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, is planning a massive tail gate event to celebrate the occasion.

Fox Weather map shows 2024 solar eclipse's path of totality. (Fox Weather)

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It is never safe to look directly at the sun without a safe solar filter. 

When watching a partial solar eclipse, solar viewing or eclipse glasses are required.