Do birds sleep? Where do whales go at night? What happens in nature when the lights go out?

Let our local experts answer these and other nocturnal questions at this fun, free, family friendly Dark Skies Fringe Festival event. Join us at Blacksod Village to celebrate the darkness and learn about nature at night!

Half the Park is After Dark! Join Mayo Dark Sky Park Officer Georgia for a guided walk of 2.5km under Mayo's dark night skies. We will take the opportunity to stargaze along the way if weather permits. This is the first of our weekly dark sky walks and starts from Letterkeen Bothy. Going forward 1st Friday of the month is from Ballycroy Visitor Centre and all other walks from Letterkeen trailhead at 8pm. (approx 15km north of Newport town).

A gallery of astrophotography by Josh Mathew. Commissioned by Mayo Dark Sky Park in 2022 and launched during Space Week, all photographs were taken in Wild Nephin National Park which becomes Mayo Dark Sky Park at night.

Josh Matthews is from Shanbolard, Moyard, Co. Galway. He is a previous winner of the prestigious ‘Reach for the Stars’ astrophotography competition, a rigorous judging process of over 180 entries, run by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS)

Have you ever wondered what the Solar System is really like only to be bewildered by some science program talking about vast distances that you can’t get your head around?

A Solar System Walk allows you to understand what it’s all about in a simple interactive stroll. In this walk, we imagine the Sun is 250mm in diameter, the size of a small football. At that size, the Solar System would be just over 1 km.

The planets are placed at the. correct scaled distances from the Sun and a picture of an everyday object is shown on the planet information board depicting its size in relation to the Sun (250mm). You could bring some of the everyday objects listed to help understand the scale, size, and distances involved or just use your imagination at each image.

The objects are paperclips, thumbtack, peppercorn, crayon, ballpoint pen, plum, a battery, blueberry and a pea or something of similar size. We are located at the Bellacragher Boat Club.