North York Moors Dark Skies Festival

News and Events, Things to Do

On the 8th of December 2020 the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks were designated as International Dark Sky Reserves, joining an exclusive global family of Dark Sky Places.

The Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors are home to some of the darkest skies in the country, with large areas of unpolluted night sky where it’s possible to see thousands of stars, the Milky Way, meteors and even the Northern Lights. As part of a coordinated approach by the two National Parks, the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), has granted Reserve status to both areas, which combined cover over 3500 km2 of northern England. This is by far the biggest such announcement in the UK and represents one of the largest areas in Europe to be simultaneously designated.

Both National Parks have worked hard over several years to achieve this award, gaining support from councils, parishes, landowners, businesses and renowned astronomical experts.

The North York Moors National Park hosts annually two Dark Skies Festival to coincide with the February and October/November half term holidays.   For more information about the dark skies festival and other activities have a look at the North York Moors National Park website.

©Alastair Ross. Copyrighted, alastairrossphotography.co.uk, astrophotography, cliff house holiday cottages, cliffhouseholidaycottages.co.uk, dar, dark skies, dark skies festival, darkskies, holdays, holidaycottagesinyorkshire.com, landscape photography, night photography, p©Alastair Ross. Copyrighted, peak district, photography, self catering, walkshire, walkshiremoorshotography

The Orangery at Cliff House Holiday Cottages, looking North.

If you’re interested in visiting the North York Moors National Park for the Dark Skies Festival, why not stay with us.  We offer a range of self catering accommodation and provide useful maps, route cards and guide books to cater for the outdoor enthusiast. For more information about our cottages, please look here.

Banner Photograph Credit – Dark Skies at Ravenscar Credit Tony Bartholomew_NYMNP (2)

OUR VERY

LATEST

Dark Skies at Cliff House

Dark Skies at Cliff House

At Cliff House Holiday Cottages, we are right on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, one of the few (21) designated International Dark Skies Reserves in the world. Which means we are one of the best places in the country to see stars, because of the low...

The Cross Keys, dinner by Uovo

The Cross Keys, dinner by Uovo

A fantastic new restaurant in Malton, putting it firmly on the foodie map Uovo has been around the East and North Yorkshire area as a pop up restaurant headed by chef patron David Tait for a couple of years now following lock down.  Recently David has set down roots...