Darkness into Light is an annual walking event and fundraiser held, primarily, across the island of Ireland.[1] Participants meet before dawn (4:15am) on a particular Saturday in May and walk or run for 5 km to meet the sunrise.[2][3] Founded in 2009 by psychologist Joan Freeman as a fundraiser in the Phoenix Park for Pieta House suicide prevention and counselling, 400 attended the first event while the 2017 event was attended by an estimated 150,000[4] participants at more than 150 locations.[5] Similar events occur in Australia and New Zealand, Asia and North America.[1][4][6][7] The fundraising event has risen from 400 participants, at its inauguration in Dublin 2009, to over 200,000 throughout global 150 locations in 19 countries by 2018.[8][9]