Dark Sky Festival

NASA Returns to Grand Marais for the sixth annual Dark Sky Festival. The three-day event celebrates the county’s dark sky and its impact on humans and nature. Hosted by Visit Cook County MN, this event invites stargazers, nature enthusiasts and families to immerse themselves in the pristine night skies of the North Shore, “one of the darkest and most stunning places to view the stars in the United States.”

Festival Activities include a guided night sky viewing, dark sky dinners, educational presentations and various family programming.

Thursday, Dec. 12:

4 p.m. | Author Talk & Book Signing / National Geographic’s 100 Nights of a Lifetime | Studio 21, Grand Marais
3:30-5:00 p.m. | Thursday Art Night: Glow-in-the-Dark Star Ornaments | Joy & Co., Grand Marais
5:00 p.m. | Dark Skies Paint & Sip | Surfside Ballroom, Tofte
7:00 p.m. | Presentation & Panel on Light Pollution | Studio 21, Grand Marais

Friday, Dec. 13:

4 p.m. | Untitled Night Dark Sky Dance Performance | Rec Park (sledding hill), Grand Marais
6:30 p.m. | Wandering around Mars presentation by Andrea Jones, planetary geologist and the Public Engagement Lead of the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center | Grand Marais
7:30 p.m. | Cosmic Perspective: How Astrophotography Shifted My Perspective on the Cosmos & Earth by Kyle Johnson | Grand Marais

Saturday, Dec. 14:

10 a.m. | Journey to the Mono & Mars: Touchdown! – Build Your Own Lander with NASA | Studio 21, Grand Marais
1 p.m. – 2:30 P.M. | UMD Portable Planetarium | Schapp Community Center, Gunflint Trail
3:30 p.m. | Asteroids, Meteors, & Comets, Oh My! | Gunflint Lodge
5:00 p.m. | Dark Sky Dinners – Gunflint Lodge or Borderland Lodge
7:30 p.m. | Astrophotography & Astro Tourism | NEW! Northern Lights Lodge at Gunflint Lodge
Following the Star Tribune Program… Telescope Viewing & Night Vision Opportunities

Find the full schedule and details at www.visitcookcounty.com/darkskyfestival.

Happening throughout the Festival

8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. | Documentary: Northern Nights, Starry Skies | Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. | Art Exhibition: Dark Skies | Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery, Grand Marais
Geminid Meteor Shower | From December 12 – 14, the prominent night sky constellation is the Geminid meteor shower. It appears to radiate from the constellation Gemini, peaking around the nights of December 13 & 14.

New this year, the Minnesota Star Tribune has joined as a sponsor and is participating in the festival’s programming with a presentation on astrophotography and panel discussion about astro-tourism.