October-November 2025

The 2025 Mayo Dark Sky Festival will take place from Friday, 31st October to Sunday, 2nd November, in Newport, Mulranny and Ballycroy.

The festival will explore Astronomy, Biodiversity and Culture. There will be educational talks, seashore safari , walks, art exhibitions, musical performances and a planetarium.

November is one of the best months for stargazing the nightscapes because of its dark skies. Beautiful celestial bodies like Orion, Cassiopeia, double star Albireo, the Pleiades star cluster, the Summer Triangle, the Big Dipper, the planet Saturn with its rings and the MIlky Way can clearly be seen.

Programme 2025

• Opening NIght Reception at Ballycroy Visitor Centre
• Stargazing at Burrishoole Abbey
• Language and Folklore of the Night Sky talk with Clodagh Doyle, Mulranny Art Centre
• Henny Penny was right: How commercial space is changing the night sky and what’s being done about if, talk by John Barentine, Hotel Newport
• Mixies Brixies, Lego Workshop, Mulranny Art Centre
• Planetarium Shows , Newport National School
• Resonance of Place: Listening for Sings, Signals & Sonic Possibilities, soundscape with Anne Marie Deacy.
• Guided Walk at Ballycroy Visitor Centre with Michael Chambers
• Ceíde Field, talk with Gretta Byrne, Ballycroy Visitor Centre
• Telescopes & Accessories trade stand with Stephen Kershaw, Newport Hotel.
• Don’t Neglet the Night: Why darkness matters for everything that buzzes, flutters and chirps, Talk with David Smith, Mulranny Art Centre
• Sounds of the Night Sky, talk with Seán Ronayne, Mulranny Art Centre
• The Rambling House, Music and Dancing with The Rambling House, Ballycroy Community Centre
• From Black Hole images to black hole movies in the Event Horizon Telescope era, talk with Prof Sera Markiff, Hotel Newport
• Gala Dinner, and After Dinner Talk with Ruskin Hartley Park Hotel
• Seashore Safary, walk with Conor Ryan, Mulranny Beach
• Ecological Restoration in MAyo Dark Sky Park, Talk with Colin Guilfoyle, Mulranny Art Centre
• WISPIT 2p- Discovering a new world in formation, Talk with Dr Christian Ginski, Hotel Newport
• Grow your Own Healthy Food, Talk with Klaus Laitenberger, Mulranny Ars Centre
• Solar System Show for Families, interactive show with Declan Holmes, Mulranny
• Live Event Illustration, with illustrator Rae Jordan, Newport, Ballycroy and Mulranny
• Writing the Park, talk with Seán Lysaght, Ballycroy Visitor Centre
• Unesco World Heritage and Historic Astronomical Observatories of Ireland, talk with Michael Burton, Hotel Newport
• Planet Hopping: Where Next, talk with Brendan Owens, Hotel Newport
• Native Trees Workshop, workshop with Martin Connor, Ballycroy Visitor Centre
• Closing Event, Lantern Walk and Music with Kila, S Patrick Church Newport. Walk gathering at Playground.