Celebrating the Dark Skies of the South Downs National Park
Friday 13th February 2026 from 18:00pm to 21:00pm
South Downs Centre - Midhurst
North Street, Midhurst, West Sussex, GU29 9DH, South East England
Celebrate 10 years as an International Dark Sky Reserve with an evening of talks, stories and stargazing. Hear from Dan Oakley about the National Park’s dark skies journey and future, then join travel writer Megan Eaves-Egenes for a talk, reading and Q&A celebrating her new book Nightfaring. Enjoy a shared darkness experience, book signing, cake and refreshments, and stargazing through telescopes (weather permitting).
This event takes place as part of the South Downs Dark Skies Festival 2026.
Please note that this has already taken place on 13/02/2026
Event organiser
South Downs National Park is organising this event
Please contact South Downs National Park directly for more details regarding this event or, if appropriate, contact the event venue.
Email: [email protected]
Website: South Downs National Park
Twitter: @sdnpa
Facebook: South Downs National Park
Event booking
Event darkness
The below chart shows if and when the skies will be at their darkest during this event. Moonlight is shown in light yellow and the Sun's twilight in light blue. Midnight on the date shown is shown as a white line with sunset to the left and sunrise the next morning to the right. A black background with stars shows the best times for stargazing.
Fri 13th Feb
Local light pollution
South Downs Centre - Midhurst is estimated to have light pollution levels similar to a semi-rural location based on the latest data from the VIIRS satellite. For more advanced light pollution data, view this location on DarkSkySites.
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Urban
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Suburban
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Semi-rural
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Rural
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Dark site
The above demonstrates the estimated effect of light pollution - graphics created using Stellarium.
Stay and gaze nearby
Stay at one of these stargazing-friendly accommodation providers.