Festival Programme

Join us for the official opening of the festival with music, refreshments and stargazing.

As part of our Opening Night Event, we will have the first Dark Sky Walk of the winter season

Explore the night sky above Burrishoole Abbey with Newport Astronomy Club.

Choose your telescope with confidence, with practical advice from KTec’s Stephen Kershaw.

Choose your telescope with confidence, with practical advice from KTec’s Stephen Kershaw.

Explore the landscape around Ballycroy Visitor Centre on a free guided walk.

Discover simple ways your family can make a difference for our planet.

Stories of lighthouse life, the Atlantic and Blacksod’s extraordinary connection to D-Day.

Explore Mulranny’s shoreline with Conor Ryan and discover the creatures living there.

Step inside our free mobile planetarium and explore the wonders of the night sky.

Discover why Pluto lost its planet status and what New Horizons revealed.

Discover how studying Borneo’s wildlife after dark helped make the case for conservation.

Meet the elusive woodcock and discover what it does after dark.

Explore Voyager’s Golden Record and imagine what message we would send today.

A documentary exploring courage, loss and community during West Mayo’s struggle for independence.

Discover why wildlife needs darkness with scientist and The Chase star Darragh Ennis.

Explore cloudy Titan with John Zarnecki, who helped make this extraordinary mission happen.

Pause at sunset and watch the world change as darkness gently falls.

An elegant evening of dining, music and celebration at the heart of the festival.

Explore the night sky above Burrishoole Abbey with Newport Astronomy Club.

Follow NASA’s daring attempt to collect a sample from the asteroid Bennu.

Four decades of bats, wildlife conservation and occasionally getting lost along the way.

Build an astronaut, launch a rocket or imagine an alien world in this hands-on space adventure with LEGO.

Discover how moonlight, temperature and wind influence the calls of the elusive corncrake

Niall Smith explores the growing problem of space junk, the dangers it poses to spacecraft and satellites, and what we can do to clean up our increasingly crowded skies.

Explore the landscape around Ballycroy Visitor Centre on a free guided walk.

Step inside our free mobile planetarium and explore the wonders of the night sky.

Explore Earth’s living history through art, deep time and Mayo’s dark skies.

Meet your host, Ella McSweeney, and reflect on a day of wildlife discoveries

Explore how whales, dolphins and porpoises use sound to thrive beneath the waves

Discover what cameras reveal about the stars, dark skies and light pollution.

How do we build spacecraft on Earth that work millions of miles away?

Explore the discovery of pulsars with Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who first recognised them.

Join our free Lantern Walk across Newport’s viaduct, with spectacular lanterns by Tom Meskell.

Join us for the finale event of the 2026 Mayo Dark Sky Festival!