Meteor shower to mark start of Dark Skies Festival Fringe event

Shun the indoors this half term and head to the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Parks’ Fringe Dark Skies Festival from October 21 - 30.

With no full moon muscling in on the starry skies, there’s a greater chance of seeing shooting stars as the start of this year’s Fringe Festival coincides with the peak of the Orionids meteor shower on October 21.

Festival-goers can enjoy a star safari in the company of astronomy experts like Astro Dog at Dalby Forest, the Whitby and District Astronomical Society at the Fox and Hounds in Ainthorpe or Large Outdoors at Danby in the North York Moors to increase their chances of watching this night time wonder.

In Hawes on October 25, Go Stargazing will be providing a guide to those witnessing one of astronomy’s rarest events, the partial eclipse of the sun by the moon.

There will be light spectacles of a different kind at some of the best-known historic landmarks. For instance at Bolton Abbey near Skipton, artist Luke Jerram’s acclaimed Museum of the Moon installation will be suspended in the Priory Church enabling visitors to admire the seven-metre diameter sculpture which features detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface.

Northern Lights above Orton Scar (Image: Callum Stott)

Meanwhile at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway visitors can hop on-board a steam train adorned with thousands of lights for a fun-filled trip between Pickering and Levisham.

Over on the coast, Whitby will have a distinctly Halloween theme with the gothic Abbey ruins dramatically illuminated and Dracula’s 125-year history brought to life.

The Halloween theme continues with fearsome thrills along the spooky trail at Dalby Forest, a creepy cosmos immersive show in the newly opened planetarium at the Lime Tree Observatory in Nidderdale and fancy dress cycle rides near Hawes.

Those who can’t travel to the National Parks can still be involved with the festival as there will be a number of online events including Richard Darn holding a Beginner’s Guide to the Night Sky, a telescope workshop run by Go Stargazing and live space-themed experiments and craft activities run by The Space Detectives

This will be the third year that the Dark Skies Festival has been a biannual event, reflecting the continued popularity among visitors. Despite some adverse wintry conditions during this February’s main Festival, more than 5,000 people still attended the 100-plus events, many of which were sold out. The National Parks estimated that the festival had generated more than £200,000 of income to the businesses and organisations involved.

Further details can be found on the event website.

Planning is also underway for the next Dark Skies Festival which will take place in February 2023.