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Northumberland Dark Skies Festival

Home to England’s first and largest Dark Sky Park (certified by the International Dark Sky Association), Northumberland is now home to its very own Dark Skies Festival.

From 12th February to 21st February 2021, the Northumberland Dark Skies Festival will be hosted by various Dark Skies enthusiasts from some of our most well-known experience providers based in Northumberland.

The Northumberland Dark Skies Festival has a wide range of events and activities to see and do; from fireside chats with local astronomers to night sky guides and interactive live streams.

Due to the current national restrictions regarding Covid-19 in England, the Northumberland Dark Skies Festival will now take place online, but we hope you will be inspired to visit Northumberland International Dark Sky Park in the near future and experience Northumberland’s darkest skies under the cold crisp air at one of the many venues dotted around Northumberland.

For now, as we stay at home, there are lots of ways you can get involved with dark skies from the comfort of your sofa, including the annual CPRE Star Count and Kielder Observatory’s astrophotography art project – Escape Velocity (funded by Northumberland County Council) which will take place during the Dark Skies Festival and will encourage children to take photographs of the dark skies using mobile phones.

Live Stream

All of the Northumberland Dark Sky Festival events are live streamed on YouTube.  Be sure to subscribe to the Festival YouTube channel to watch at home.

12th Feb – Discovering Northumberland’s Dark Skies

13th Feb – An Introduction to Deep Sky Astro Photography

13th Feb – Deep Sky Astro Photography Masterclass

14th Feb – Stories of the Skies with Ian Ridpath

15th Feb – Beginners Nightscape Photography with Battlesteads & Kielder Observatories

15th Feb – Masterclass Nightscape Photography with Kielder & Battlesteads Observatories

16th Feb – Escape Velocity with Kielder Observatory

16th Feb – Dark Sky Tourism in Northumberland and Around the World with Valerie Stimac

17th Feb – The Great Geordie Space Race

18th Feb – From Gateshead to Galaxies

19th Feb – Chasing the Northern Lights – Aurora Hunting

20th Feb – Life in Space with Lord Martin Rees the Astronomer Royal

21st Feb – Northern Astronomers Fireside Chat

Battlesteads Observatory

Battlesteads Observatory, in the picturesque village of Wark, will play host to several moon watch and astronomy for beginners events.

www.battlesteads.com/observatory 

Kielder Observatory

Kielder Observatory, in the beautiful landscape of Kielder Water and Forest Park, will be hosting 14 events throughout the week on a variety of topics from the aurora to dark matter to exoplanets. Events sell out very quickly so book here!

www.kielderobservatory.org/our-events 

Stonehaugh Observatory

Stonehaugh Observatory is the newest addition to the Northumberland star scape and will be hosting a few “bubble” events throughout the week.

www.stonehaugh-enterprises.co.uk 

Twice Brewed Observatory

Twice Brewed Observatory, on Hadrian’s Wall, will host several family stargazing events throughout the week.

www.twicebrewedinn.co.uk/stargazing 

Interested in Astronomy?

The North East is home to many welcoming astronomy societies, Follow the links below to visit their Facebook Public Groups and Pages:

NASTRO [Northumberland Astronomical Society]

Newcastle upon Tyne Astronomical Society

Sunderland Astronomical Society

Durham Astronomical Society

Festival Partners

Northumberland Dark Skies Festival 2021 is organised by a partnership: Battlesteads Observatory, Kielder Observatory, Stonehaugh Observatory, Twice Brewed Observatory, and Northumberland National Park.

We hope that 2021 will be the first of many annual Northumberland Dark Skies Festivals to come.