Cumbria’s Dark Skies Festival returns next week from 5 – 14 November, with a busy programme of events taking place across the county to kick off the winter stargazing tourist season.
The 10-day festival programme is supported by a partnership of Cumbria Tourism, Friends of the Lake District, Forestry England and the Lake District National Park Authority to promote Cumbria as a fantastic destination to escape the city lights and discover some of the darkest skies in the UK.
The festival includes a variety of engaging events that encourage visitors to immerse themselves in the Cumbrian landscape and expand their knowledge of the night sky. Stargazing dinners, canoeing, art workshops, and planetarium shows hosted by industry experts are all on offer.
Festival partners, Forestry England will also be leading a series of family-friendly walks through Whinlatter Forest, where guests can look for constellations and experience the different sounds and sights of the forest after dark.
Gill Haigh, Managing Director of Cumbria Tourism says spearheading the festival is part of Cumbria Tourism’s recovering marketing efforts to bolster autumn and winter tourism and encourage visitation to more rural, off-the-beaten-track locations.
“Cumbria hosts some of the most spectacular views of the night’s sky in the UK and we hope our local economy will benefit from the opportunities that our star-gazing visitors bring.”
A business support toolkit has also developed by Cumbria Tourism offering local businesses a suite of resources to further engage with their starry-eyed visitors and develop their dark skies product offering.
“It’s great to see our local businesses coming on board with the initiative, with many developing new bookable ‘dark sky’ packages for guests arriving over the coming winter season,” says Haigh.
Forestry England’s Head of Recreation, Mark Holroyd says, “Cumbria is blessed with so many great places to experience truly dark skies and we want to encourage people to explore those places where you have the best views of the clear night sky, free of the light pollution in more urban areas. Visitors and locals can also experience great health and wellbeing benefits from getting outdoors and engaging with the natural landscape and the stars above.”
Friends of the Lake District’s Dark Skies Officer, Jack Ellerby says “It’s great all our different organisations are working together to celebrate and cherish Cumbria’s wonderful dark skies. Tourism businesses are also doing events for visitors with astronomer guides, running swimming under the stars activities and community groups with an interest in the night sky environment are also doing local events. Please do support these passionate local businesses and book on some event(s).”
