Space scientist to help launch 10th Dark Skies Festival across North York Moors area

Dame Maggie will be delivering her talk Reaching for the Stars – an exploration of the night sky at Sneaton Castle in Whitby on February 13, before the festival opens the following evening with a special dark skies safari at Broughton Sanctuary in Skipton.

This then leads into a 17-day programme of events, running from February 14 to March 2, at venues across the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales, as well as both the Howardian Hills and Nidderdale National Landscapes.

The special 10th anniversary milestone will celebrate the festival’s role as a catalyst for the protection of both National Parks’ pristine night skies and the growth of astro tourism over the last decade.

After the success of the first festival in 2016, both National Parks began looking into how they could secure recognition for the low light pollution and pristine quality of their night skies by gaining International Dark Sky Reserve status.

Both were awarded that status in 2020, becoming one of only 22 places worldwide to do so, and creating the largest dark sky area in the UK, covering 1,396 square miles.

This, together with the National Parks’ ongoing work to protect and extend their nocturnal environments, primarily by working with communities to install dark skies-friendly external lighting, has led to the growth in the festival’s popularity.

It has also meant that both the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales have become prime autumn and winter destinations for people wanting to enjoy the sight of an unsullied night sky.

The National Parks estimate that a combined figure of around 4,000 to 5,000 people attend the February Dark Skies Festival and October Fringe events each year.

This in-turn boosts the economy by around £500,000, whether directly through event bookings or indirectly in terms of accommodation or buying food and drink.

As well as this, the festival has spawned Dark Skies Friendly networks made up of accommodation, pubs and scores of activity and experience providers.

These networks now offer a whole raft of ways for people to embrace and appreciate the dark side of the National Parks throughout the year, whether it’s going on a guided bike ride or mindfulness walk at night; joining an astronomy evening; or simply being given a blanket and an astronomy torch to step outside and enjoy their own DIY stargazing.

Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock said: “The Dark Skies Festival is a brilliant way to help connect people, irrespective of their age, to the most fantastic and precious natural wonder they can experience, the night sky, particularly when more of the world is witnessing the loss of stars behind light pollution.

“A pristine night sky filled with stars or a bright moon can do so much for each and every one of us – whether it’s sparking our curiosity about space and learning how the natural world needs darkness; making us feel better about our own lives when we see how vast and infinite the Universe is; or encouraging us all to follow our dreams.”

Visit www.darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk for more programme details of the Dark Skies Festival and event booking information.