Revitalize your soul with this guide to watching the night sky sparkle

By John Garvey

Until very recently, children in all but the largest cities could see the Milky Way from their backyards on clear summer evenings. I know this because I was one of them (children, not cities).

In many parts of the U.S., around 10 percent of the stars in the night sky vanish from sight year-over-year because of light pollution, which National Geographic Society defines as “the excessive or inappropriate use of outdoor artificial light.” Perhaps the sole redeeming thing about the drastic, recent increase in light pollution is that stargazing festivals have become better attended and more numerous.

Colorado holds many annual, first-rate stargazing festivals. Here are a few of them:

Rocky Mountain Star Stare

June 25-29, Gardener

The Rocky Mountain Star Stare is likely the most well-attended stargazing festival in Colorado. Unfortunately, this year’s edition sold out on April 30, just before the early registration period ended. If it sounds like your jam, mark your calendar for next year.

The festival is held on a 35-acre property southwest of Colorado Springs that is owned by the RMSS organization and dubbed Starry Meadows.

“When you get into a dark sky site — I mean, truly dark sky, like our Starry Meadows — it can be so dark that … it’s almost like (the Milky Way is) gonna come crashing down on you,” says Scott Donnell, co-organizer of the annual festival.

“It's just so vibrant and brilliant and just awesome, he continued. “And it's unfortunate that so many people are not able to experience looking up and seeing into our galaxy — you know, the place where we live — our galactic home. So that's why dark skies are important to us. And to me.”

In the 39 years since RMSS began, the view of the Milky Way from the festival grounds has remained undiminished despite the proliferation of ultra-bright, cheap LED lighting along the Front Range. This is due in part to the comparatively remote location of Starry Meadows, and in part to “wonderful neighbors.”

“We are very fortunate that the few neighbors that we have around us are very supportive,” Donnell says. “We invite them to our Rocky Mountain Star Stare and typically give them a free admission, if you will. We don't charge them. Then they get to see firsthand how important it is to preserve the dark skies. And they're very, very good, very cooperative about mitigating light pollution and light trespass onto our property.”

Rocky Mountain Star Stare is also likely the best-organized stargazing festival in Colorado. A short list of amenities and events includes kids door and raffle prize drawings, lectures on astrophysics and astronomy, guided observing for beginners, two on-site observatories, a half dozen observing pads, and a 30-by-80-foot event center dubbed Town Hall.

Lake City Star Fest

June 27-28, Lake City

For charm and hospitality, you probably can’t beat Lake City as a stargazing destination. From an astronomy standpoint, the town has several things going for it: the small and remote mountain location; dark sky ordinances (the town isn’t DarkSky certified, but it meets most, if not all of the requirements); and the Lake Fork Earth and Sky Center, a DarkSky certified campground and learning center in Lake City.

And let’s not forget the patient, tireless advocacy of Lake City resident and festival co-organizer Phillip Virden. To Virden, the study of the cosmos is also a reminder that Earth is both infinitesimally small, in the grand scheme of things, and infinitely precious.

“And what a lucky card that we have drawn to have life on this planet,” he says. “I think it's terribly important to recognize that.”

Lake City Star Fest (LCSF) is organized and supported by Lake City Skies, Virden’s organization, as well as DarkSky Colorado, and Lake Fork Valley Conservancy. The final details of this year’s festival are still being ironed out, but it will include daytime solar observation through a specialized telescope for viewing the sun, at least one astrophysics lecture, and evening stargazing (with telescopes and informal guidance) from the breathtaking observatory site at Slumgullion Pass.

There will also be a keynote presentation, “Why Dark Skies Matter,” by yours truly. If you don’t laugh and learn, you get your money back. (Admission to all LCSF events is free.)

Black Canyon Regional AstroFest

Sept. 18-20, near Montrose at Gunnison National Park, Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area and Curecanti National Recreation Area

The festival that is now Black Canyon Regional AstroFest began as a single-night astronomy event at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park around 2000. In 2023, it expanded to include events across three International Dark Sky Certified Parks: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Curecanti National Recreation Area and Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area.

Together, these parks comprise an area totaling 135,000 contiguous acres.

“People clearly enjoy seeing the stars and the Milky Way under a dark sky,” says Art Trevena, former vice president and current member of Black Canyon Astronomical Society. “This expands their horizons.”

Several organizations have come together to plan and support the festival: Black Canyon Astronomical Society, Western National Parks Association, DarkSky International, Colorado Canyons Association, Gunnison Valley Observatory, and the Bureau of Land Management.

Trevena also notes that “the rangers at Black Canyon of the Gunnison (National Park) have mentioned to us that astronomy events are among the most popular interpretive programs at the park.”

Among other merits, the Black Canyon festival has drawn amazing speakers, including Colorado author Craig Childs, Bettymaya Foott (astrophotographer, author, and TEDx speaker), Scott Kardel of DarkSky International, and other famous (as astronomers go) speakers.

Other Public Stargazing Events

If you’re looking for something closer to home, there are roughly a dozen registered astronomical societies throughout Colorado.

Northern Colorado Astronomical Society (NoCo Astro), in Fort Collins, has at least a half dozen public stargazing and astronomy events most months. Check out Starry Sky Soirees at Eagle’s Nest Open Space (May 23, June 28, and Aug. 23), the Jackson Lake Star Party (Sept. 27), or anything else in the NoCo Astro calendar.

Longmont Astronomical Society hosts monthly Friday night star parties with Boulder County Parks and Open Space. Check out the calendar.

Little Thompson Observatory in Berthoud, the first Front Range community seeking to become a certified International Dark Sky Place, also hosts evening star parties the third Friday of each month. Check out the calendar.

Not seeing anything close to home? Here’s a not-quite-complete list of Colorado astronomy clubs.

Why Stargazing Festivals Matter

Saying that stargazing in an area protected from the ravages of light pollution gives you perspective on your day-to-day hangups is like saying the ocean is salty. If you’ve ever been to a stargazing festival, or even gotten out of your tent to pee and been dumbstruck at the sight of the Milky Way, this is obvious.

And staring at the cosmos makes the culture wars feel so stupid.

“I've done these programs in Lake City for four decades,” Virden says, “and it's now evolved into where, especially in this day and age — when the nation is divided and we have all these weird things going on — up there it seems like it just dissolves. And people, especially when the stars start to pop out and everything, it just brings people together.”

Even briefly gazing at the night sky and contemplating its vastness is a reminder that, whatever else befalls you, the sky
will
not
fall
on
you.

That might sound obvious intellectually, but it can be a huge relief mentally and emotionally.