Since 2007, 20 April each year we celebrate the World Night in Defense of Starlight, an initiative promoted by the Starlight Foundation coinciding with the signing, during the First International Starlight Conference, of the "Declaration of La Palma in Defence of the Night Sky and the Right to Observe the Stars", considering the dark sky an outstanding, universal cultural, scientific, environmental resource to promote and develop “astronomical tourism”, establishing criteria for its protection.
Popularly this celebration that implies popular acts throughout the Starlight territory is colloquially named Starlight Lights Out. Starlight Foundation encourages communities, municipalities, business, individuals, to turn-off the lights to raise awareness of the importance to avoid the light pollution and the conservation of dark and pristine skies. It takes usually one hour of switch off but it is completed with popular music festivals, astrophotography workshops, children's storytelling, contests, astrophotography exhibitions, etc.
Any organization can adhere to Starlight World Night and join forces, getting involved in many aspects*:
- Organizing events and ceremonies for the adoption of the Starlight Declaration
- Proposing meeting sites for observing the sky, as well as parks and destinations under the stars.
- Promoting regulations that limit the light pollution and encourage energy savings.
- Turning off unnecessary lights at night to recover stars view , while saving energy and mitigating climate change.
- Organizing artistic events and competitions on topics related to the importance of the dark sky protection and the dissemination of the astronomy.
- Offering sky observations through telescopes.
- Providing the media and public talks by scientists, experts and advocates of the dark skies.
- Promoting the local identification of dark areas that require protection.
- Organizing workshops and activities involving students and local communities in general.
Starlight World Night Agenda 2022 (spanish)
The agenda for the 2023 edition of the Starlight World Night will be drawn up in the coming weeks.
+34 922 31 51 40
gestion@fundacionstarlight.org
Calle Vía Láctea S/N 38205 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, España