
Dark Skies 2025
Following its success in 2024, our Dark Skies event returned to Hertford Castle on Saturday 1st February.
This community event, recognised by Dark Sky UK, celebrated the night sky by switching off artificial lights to allow the stars to be seen without glare or local upward light.
Groups of experts and enthusiasts, including LAPD Lighting Design, The University of Hertfordshire: Bayfordbury Observatory, Hertford Astronomy Group, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust and Herts Amphibian and Reptile Group, all came together to raise awareness of the effects of lighting at night, both on humans and the surrounding ecology. They provided an enjoyable evening of stargazing, educational talks and activities including a mobile planetarium, which exhibited an immersive video of the constellations and the beautiful night sky.
Alongside the event, BEAM showed ‘The City Dark’ - a feature documentary about light pollution and the disappearing night sky, which premiered at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival. This was followed by a talk by lighting designer Simon Thorp, from LAPD Lighting Design, who provided further insight into the effects of artificial light at night and the steps we can take to minimise our impact, he commented: “It was great to see so many people coming together to enjoy the night sky and share knowledge about nature and light. I’m already looking forward to next year!”
Hertford Town Council is most grateful to all those who attended and we look forward to expanding this popular event further in 2026.
Councillor Ann Woodward, Chair of the Development and Leisure Committee commented: “We were so incredibly lucky that the skies were so clear on the night and that we got to see actual planets! We are most grateful to all our stargazing experts, and BEAM, for working in partnership with us on this event – yet another example of our community coming together to share both wonderment and learning.”
Latest Articles
-
National Apprenticeship Week 2025 – feeling the love…
14/02/2025
It’s Valentine's Day and today, like every day, we are loving our new apprentice!
-
Hertford Town Council moves away from X social media platform
13/02/2025
Hertford Town Council has decided that X, formerly known as Twitter, is no longer an appropriate soc…
Updates from Go Hertford
ID: 703