South Downs Dark Skies Festival 2026

The South Downs Dark Skies Festival is back for 2026.

Running between Thursday 12 to Sunday 22 February, the festival will feature a host of events.

For 2026 we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of our designation as an International Dark Sky Reserve.  

The festival programme can be viewed below or using this link:

Spend some time embracing the darkness, appreciating all the joy and wonder a dark night can bring and discovering how we can care for and protect the dark skies for us humans and for our nocturnal wildlife friends.

• Discover the National Park through night walks and meet local astronomy groups.
• Join star parties at Seven Sisters and Queen Elizabeth Country Parks, Amberley Museum, Alice Holt Forest and on Brighton seafront.
• Discover our new family-friendly Dark Skies Explorer Trail to listen to the story of the Great Bear.
• Find out about nocturnal wildlife and learn about biofluorescence (things that shine under UV light!).
• Listen to stories of the stars above us.
• Explore our ‘Embrace the Darkness’ podcast, all about nocturnal wildlife, and take part in some recording.
• Visit our new Dark Skies Hub to view prize-winning astrophotography and details of extra festival events.
• Explore our 10 Dark Sky Discovery sites through short films before visiting in-person.

WEATHER: Please note that all in person events are subject to cancellation at short notice due to weather conditions. Please check back here and on our social media on the day. 

It doesn’t stop there!  We will be continuing to celebrate 10 years of being designated an International Dark Sky Reserve throughout the year, with more events and exciting online content.