Nature

Treely Sweet: A California Dark Sky Fest Grows Online

The Sequoia Parks Conservancy will feature a number of night-nice events during the three-day virtual gathering.

Bonnie Nordling

What to Know

  • Sept. 10-12, 2021
  • Follow the Sequoia Parks Conservancy social pages for more info
  • Past fests have included astronomy and nature talks, kid events, more

POPPING BY POLARIS? Taking a spin in the vicinity of Alpha Centauri? Deciding to see what the Pleiades might have going on, or if Betelgeuse is busy? Here's a hard truth for stargazers who dream of an up-close (or at least up-close-ish) moment with a favorite fiery heavenly body: That's not going to happen, not outside your daydreams, journal entries, and any fanciful space stories you might tell the family, all to pass the time on a chilly night. But while we can't get up-close-ish with the far-off superstars of the universe, we can make a meaningful connection with the stars we're obsessed with when we attend a Dark Sky Festival.

THE POPULAR FESTIVALS, which celebrate after-sundown skies best admired far from city lights, have been popping up around the Golden State with some regularity over the last few years. With the start of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, a number of gatherings went online, and a sequoia-themed celebration will return to the virtual space over the second weekend of September 2021. Hosted by the Sequoia Parks Conservancy, the Dark Sky Festival traditionally features astronomy pros and nature-minded experts talking about both the big trees and the even bigger stars that so gracefully frame the treetops, from a distance, night after night. Are you missing the in-person get-togethers?

FIND SOME OF THE WONDER... and the whimsy by tuning in during the three-day affair, which twinkle-twinkles, like Polaris or Alpha Centauri might, from Sept. 10-12, 2021.

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