Visitors to the Dark Skies Fringe Festival will be able to appreciate Dalby Forest's enhanced stargazing experience after the completion of the latest project to minimise light pollution within the North York Moors National Park.
The Festival, which runs from 25 October to 3 November, will see a series of events that showcase the beauty of the night skies within their International Dark Sky Reserves.
Within the Festival's programme will be a string of stargazing evenings run by Astro Dog in Dalby Forest, which has been transformed recently by work to replace the existing external lights with over 60 dark skies-friendly fittings around the Courtyard, Visitor centre, staff offices and Low Dalby village.
Forestry England was keen to revamp the existing lighting to reduce glare and ensure lights were directed only where they were needed for security, access or task-related purposes so that the surrounding wildlife-rich habitats are protected from light pollution.
Working with the National Park, as part of nature recovery work funded by section 106 payments to compensate for the impacts of major developments, Forestry England was able to carry out a lighting audit. This identified the differing needs of various locations, such as Dalby Forest Cycle Hub where staff needed suitable lights for washing bikes as well as security lighting; the staff car park, which required enough light for staff to safely go to-and-from the offices; and the ability for lighting in the Courtyard to be turned off during stargazing evenings.
Dark skies-accredited lighting from various manufacturers and local suppliers were identified to replace the existing fittings.
Now Dalby Forest joins Sutton Bank National Park Centre as two of the three original Dark Sky Discovery sites in the North York Moors that have had their lighting transformed, with the third, Danby Lodge, earmarked to be the next project.
It forms part of the National Park's wider ambition to create more dark sky friendly communities that go further than just converting street lights by ensuring all exterior lights, including those on homes and public buildings, are compliant. Already the village of Hawnby has been a trailblazer in this respect, having converted to dark skies-friendly lighting earlier this year and a number of other community projects are now underway
New events at this year's Fringe Festival will include a dark skies sound walk with artist Cecilia Tyrrell at Sutton Bank, where people will be introduced to the art of deep listening at night, sparking curiosity in the sounds that might usually go unheard. At Danby Lodge new events include a dark skies-themed printmaking session and a family stargazing evening with Cosmic Wonders.
Petra Young, Funding & Development Manager said:
"It is great to see the results of a few years' of hard work to pull together this dark skies lighting scheme. Even though Dalby Forest has always been a great location for stargazing, now the stars can be seen much better with minimal light pollution impacting our visitors when visiting Astro Dog's events in the forest."
Mike Hawtin, Head of Nature Recovery Projects for the North York Moors National Park commented:
"As we approach the 10th anniversary of the first joint Dark Skies Festival in February 2025, it's great to see how the event has been a catalyst for lighting projects, such as the one at Dalby Forest, as there is now so much more awareness of how light pollution can affect our natural world."
There are more details about the Dark Skies Fringe Festival at https://www.darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk/north-york-moors-events
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