The Dark Skies Festival Is Back For 2026

Stargazing and Dark Sky tourism are on the rise, with travellers across the globe on the hunt for breathtaking sights of the universe around us. Here in the UK, there are plenty of hotels offering perfect stargazing adventures, but nowhere is better than the Yorkshire Dales’ annual Dark Skies Festival. Here’s what to expect.

The Dark Skies Festival: The C&TH Guide

The Dark Skies Festival is an annual celebration of the night sky held across the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Providing stunning, remote landscapes and clear skies, this natural area is the perfect place to stargaze, moongaze and celebrate the wonders of the universe.

The festival dates back to 2016 when it was first held, and it has been hosted every February half term ever since. In 2020, Covid forced the festival online but, if anything, this increased the festival’s popularity.

The Yorkshire Dales is a designated Dark Sky Reserve (certified by DarkSky International), and is home to some of the darkest skies in the country. This means you can see the Milky Way, planets, meteors and sometimes even the Northern Lights from here. Places like the North York Moors, South Downs, Eyiri (Snowdonia), Brecon Beacons and Exmoor are also Dark Sky Reserves, but the real lack of light pollution in the Yorkshire Dales means the skies here are typically the darkest of them all.

The original Dark Skies Festival is arranged by the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales’ National Park Authorities, and 2026’s instalment will be the Festivals 11th edition. It has inspired other similar festivals across fellow dark sky regions, including the South Downs, the North East, Wales, Exmoor and Cumbria.

(© Steve Bell)

When Is It?

The Dark Skies Festival will return to North Yorkshire from Friday 13 February until Sunday 1 March 2026. There’s also a Fringe Festival every autumn; this year it’ll take place from Friday 23 October to Sunday 1 November, with events still to be announced.

What’s On?

One new focus at the 2026 Dark Skies Festival is Dusking, an ancient Dutch wellbeing ritual in which people gather and sit together at twilight and resist lighting any lamps, mindfully watching the day fade into night and symbolically marking the daily transition from work to rest. Dutch author and poet Marjolijn van Heemstra is pioneering a revival of the tradition, which has waned in popularity since the advent of electric lighting. She will introduce the concept to the UK at the Dark Skies Festival, hoping to alter negative perceptions of night time and the dark, transforming it into a more positive experience. She will also play a sound recording she created by combining music and narrative to explain how twilight is a calming constant in a world full of light and noise.

Elsewhere, the North York Moors will be opening the brand-new Dark Skies Station at Danby Lodge National Park Centre on 14 February – a state-of-the-art observatory. A string of stargazing events will follow hosted by AstroDog, with an opening multi-sensory exhibition entitled ‘Discover the Universe’ alongside.

From photography workshops and nighttime walks to star-bathing and author talks, there is a plethora of events to discover at this year’s Dark Skies Festival. Find a full list here and more information at yorkshiredales.org.uk

Where To Stay

Three C&TH-approved options for you here encapsulating our own country and town ethos.

The town option is The Grand, York – a splendid Edwardian property originally built to house the North Eastern Railway Company in 1906. As such it’s a stone’s throw from York’s central station – as well as being within easy reach of York St John University where on 25 February a panel will explore how the ancient city could become the UK’s very first Dark Skies City. The Grand is no stranger to Dark Sky tourism, regularly offering stargazing staycation packages and excursions, as well as being within easy reach of nearby Dark Sky areas. Inside, check in to one of the 207 cosseting bedrooms, relax at the serene spa and dine at brasserie The Rise or indulgent Michelin Guide spot Legacy.

(© Rebecca Tappin)

Out of town, Middleton Lodge is a real countryside star, tucked away in Richmond smack dab between the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors National Parks, where the Dark Skies Festival is set. A smattering of bedrooms and cottages are dotted across the estate’s meadows, gardens and parkland, boasting interiors that bring the outdoors in as well as a fine dining restaurant inspired by the estate’s surrounding landscape. To embrace the Dark Skies, treat yourself to a twilight spa visit.

And for a staycation in the lap of luxury, Grantley Hall is the place to visit. There may only be 47 bedrooms at this Grade II*-listed mansion house (which dates back to 1680), but guests are spoiled rotten with five exceptional restaurants to choose from, including Shaun Rankin’s Michelin-starred spot. There’s an indulgent spa here, as well as the most high-tech wellness facilities you could conjure, including a cryotherapy chamber. Hidden on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, it’s perfectly located for some Dark Skies tourism – if you can tear yourself away…

How To Get Tickets

Events are ticketed individually, and can be purchased at darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk