Arkansas Dark-Sky Festival

The 2024 Arkansas Dark-Sky Festival will be three days alongside picturesque Bear Creek, just off of Hyw. 65 south of the Buffalo River, an International Dark-Sky Park.  During the day, there will be presentations, hikes, and other activities for adults and children.  Each night, we will rediscover the night sky as our ancestors knew it, complete with guided constellation tours and telescopic views of celestial objects under the Summer Milk Way. Please explore this page, view videos about the festival here

Schedule:

Thursday is an evening event only.

4:30 - Welcome & Information tents open. Pre-purchased Merchandise can be picked up at the information tent.

6:00 - Bring your food to the Pavilion for dinner and mingle with the volunteers.

7:00 - The program begins with a welcome, an intro to the Festival, a weather report, and a reminder about activities and how to take part in the nighttime events.

7:30 - How to measure sky glow with Globe-at-Night citizen science project.

7:45 - What’s Up Tonight presentation - Rocky Togni.

8:30 - Constellation Tour, telescope observing, and nightscape photography workshop (if held on Thursday night, see workshop program) begins. (astronomical twilight ends - 8:42) (If cloudy,
programming will be announced at the pavilion)