After the success of last year’s dark skies event, Dark Skies Hertford is set to return next month.
The event, which this year is being held on 1 February at Hertford Castle, follows the popularity of the inaugural event last year, also held in February (‘Switching on to switching off’, Lighting Journal, May 2024, vol 89 no 5).
With last year’s event affected by torrential rain, the organisers are this year very much hoping for better weather and clear night skies.
The event will begin from 3pm, with the film ‘The City Dark’ by Wicked Delicate films being screened by Beam Cinema, next door to the castle grounds. This will be followed by an educational talk by Hertford resident Simon Thorp, from LAPD Lighting.
The proceedings at the Castle itself then begin from 17:30. There will be a mobile planetarium provided by Bayfordbury Observatory, The University of Hertfordshire, for people to visit from 17:45 and every 30 minutes after that, clouds or not.
Hertford Astronomy Group will have multiple telescope stations around the grounds looking at different parts of the night sky. Inside they will have projections, slides, a VR headset and lots of equipment to see.
The Bayfordbury Obervatory, LAPD Lighting Design and Hertfordshire Amphibian and Wildlife group will be providing educational talks inside the castle too.
Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, CPRE The countryside charity Herts, and others will be in attendance on the lawn.
At 19:00 all lighting on the castle and within the castle grounds will be switched off for one hour to allow people to see the night sky without local upward light or glare. Bayfordbury Observatory will talk through the night sky.
Tickets for the film will be sold separately and will allow entrance to the event at the Castle. Otherwise, people will be able to just purchase tickets for the castle event and activities.
More details can be found at https://beamhertford.co.uk/events/dark-skies-the-city-dark-pg-with-introduction-and-post-film-talk-by-simon-thorp/
Image: Paul Crowley
