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Dark Sky Festival is set for Saturday

Posted 4/18/18

To celebrate Fountain Hills becoming only the 17th International Dark Sky Community in the world, a Dark Sky Festival will be held from 3 to 10 p.m., Saturday, April 21.

This unique festival will …

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Dark Sky Festival is set for Saturday

Posted

To celebrate Fountain Hills becoming only the 17th International Dark Sky Community in the world, a Dark Sky Festival will be held from 3 to 10 p.m., Saturday, April 21.

This unique festival will offer an exciting array of activities for all ages and interestingly, just happens to fall on International Astronomy Day and the last day of International Dark Sky Week. The festival is being co-hosted by the Fountain Hills Dark Sky Association and the Town of Fountain Hills.

The festival will be held at the Cutillo Town Plaza and involve the Community Center, River of Time Museum, Fountain Hills Library and Community Garden. All the festival activities, other than food and beverages, are free.

Certain to be popular with the younger crowd is the mobile planetarium that will be set up in the foyer of the Community Center. Shows 20 minutes in length are scheduled beginning at 3:20 p.m. and will alternate between showings of Wonders of the Universe and New Horizons of the Solar System, with the last showing at 6:40 p.m. Although only floor seating is available, the shows definitely have a big “wow factor” according to organizers.

Four presentations in the Community Center ballroom by nationally known speakers are among the festival’s highlights. The fascinating topics include how early cultures used astronomical techniques to establish the seasons (archaeoastronomy), the effects of light on organisms from insects to mammals, how Pluto was “demoted” from planet to Kuiper Belt object, and award-winning astrophotography and time-lapse videos of America’s night skies.

Another wow factor for kids and adults alike will be the live animal display of owls, raptors, snakes and more at the River of Time Museum. The live animals are being presented courtesy of Wild at Heart Raptors and the McDowell Mountain Regional Park.

The River of Time Museum will also have family discovery stations and hands-on, interactive crafts and activities. In addition, all areas of the museum will be open to the public free of charge.

Those who tour the museum will see the new display of the Dr. Charles Juels telescope. Juels studied the skies from his observatory in his back yard in Fountain Hills from 1999 to 2009. During that timeframe, he discovered over 300 new asteroids, one of which is now officially named Fountain Hills. The museum activities are from 3 to 7 p.m.

The Fountain Hills Library is participating in the festival from 3 to 8 p.m. They will have displays, family-friendly activities and crafts, and a collection of books related to night skies that can be checked out. They will also showcase and explain the telescope loaner program, a creative addition to the library that won a national award.

The Community Garden is offering an opportunity to learn from master gardeners during the event. They will be offering tours from 5 to 7 p.m. highlighting the food donation beds, native seed beds, the greenhouse, compost program and the beekeeping program.

Even the Fountain Hills School District is involved. All grade levels from kindergarten through grade 12 are competing in grade-level categories in a night sky-related art contest with a separate category for digital art. Many winning entries will be displayed during the week prior to and during the festival in the hallway adjacent to the Community Center ballroom.

Also displayed in the Community Center hallways will be the entries for the photo contest, which is open to all ages and is being coordinated by the Fountain Hills Photography Club. The images will include both astrophotography and night landscape photos taken in Fountain Hills.

As it gets dark, the star party and laser tours of the night sky will get underway. Members from astronomy clubs throughout the Valley will be setting up their telescopes in Centennial Circle to give people the opportunity to see solar flares, mountains on the moon, galaxies, and more. Ted Blank, co-founder of the Fountain Hills Astronomy Club and a NASA Solar System Ambassador, will be partnering with Dr. Jeffrey Hall, Director of the Lowell Observatory, to give laser tours of the night sky and will present both the mythology and the science of the constellations.

While all the above is going on, food trucks, including Tom’s Barbeque, Queso Good, Larry’s Smokehouse Salmon, Super Swirl, and the kettle corn from Fountain Hills Water and Ice will be available. Also, an assortment of craft beers will be offered for $5 along with a limited supply of custom souvenir beer glasses.

The entire Cutillo Town Plaza will be engaged in this event, from presentations to family-friendly activities, laser tours of the night sky and beyond, organizers say there will be something for everyone.

For more information, visit fhdarksky.com.