Seventh North Pennines stargazing festival programme launches

27th September 2023

The programme has been launched for this year’s celebration of the dark skies of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and UNESCO Global Geopark.

The seventh North Pennines Stargazing Festival will run from 20 October to 5 November 2023, during the Autumn half term, and has over 30 events spread across the two weeks.

There is a packed programme of fun and informative events, with activities for more experienced stargazers alongside events aimed at children and families. Activities include themed walks, stargazing events at High Force and a range of exciting, themed nights at Grassholme Observatory in Upper Teesdale – including Aurora nights and dark sky astronomy and stargazing.

At the AONB Partnership’s Bowlees Visitor Centre in Upper Teesdale there is a self-guided creatures of the night trail, an evening walk to discover nocturnal animals and an informative talk delving into the murky world of twilight and beyond.

There are three events, on Friday 3 November, at Talkin Tarn Country Park, to celebrate the launch of our new Skygazing Pavilion, ‘The Nest’. Between 11am and 3pm people will be able to drop into workshops to ‘meet the makers’ of the roundhouse structure. From 5.30pm we have invited an author and storyteller to share a traditional tale celebrating nature and the night sky. The ‘Talkin Tarn Skywatch’ in the evening, in partnership with Border Astronomical Society, will guide budding stargazers around the night sky.

The successful Star Camp returns to Doe Park Caravan Site in the middle weekend (27 to 29 October) of the festival. The camp is perfect for novice astronomers and children (6+ years). Alongside stargazing there will be themed talks, solar observing and a bottle rocket competition.

The North Pennines AONB team will be sharing astronomy tips and blogs on social media throughout the week to inspire stay-at-home stargazers and provide people with handy stargazing tips, advice, and things to look out for in the night sky.

Shane Harris, Responsible Tourism Lead for the North Pennines AONB Partnership, said: “The festival is now in its seventh year and it goes from strength to strength. We have a wide range of events spread across the North Pennines AONB and UNESCO Global Geopark, appealing to local people and visitors to the area. The North Pennines is the darkest mainland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and is one of the best places in the UK to enjoy stargazing. Our annual festival is designed to make it easy for people to celebrate the area’s fabulous starry skies and nocturnal wildlife.”

Discover the complete programme.