Flagstaff Celebrates its Star-Filled Night Skies

All events (except workshops) are FREE!

The 2024 Flagstaff Star Party and Celebration of the Night brings six weeks of exciting and awe-inspiring events showcasing Flagstaff’s beautiful night skies!

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Protection of the night sky began in Flagstaff in 1958 – and Flagstaff continues to set the standard for effective night sky protection. A High Country News story by Peter Friederici – Stargazers defend darkness in Arizona – and David Portree’s award-winning story Flagstaff’s Battle for Dark Skies describe our special history and role in what is now an international dark-sky movement. This CNN story and video is just one recent example showing what success looks like, and that it is being noticed!

FDSC board member Dr. Danielle Adams talks to CNN

2024 Flagstaff Star Party and Celebration of the Night Events


	DARK SKIES DOWNTOWN Downtown businesses in the First International Dark Sky City embrace their dark side! The First Friday ArtWalk kicks off six weeks of exhibits and special events showcasing Flagstaff's famous dark skies. A partnership of the Downtown Business Alliance, Creative Flagstaff, and the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition.	When: – September 6 through October
	First Friday ArtWalk
	Meet the Stars! Telescope viewing at Heritage Square	When: September 6 Time: 7:30 PM-9:30 PM
	Arizona Handmade – 13 N. San Francisco St. Daniel Josley – Stories of the Ancient Ones	When: September 6 Time: 5:00 PM-9:00 PM for First Friday Throughout September and October for the gallery exhibit
	The Milky Way above the San Francisco Peaks, the stillness of a starlit forest, the moon highlighting rock formations, a campfire’s warmth within the darkness of a quiet night. These inspire artists to create and spark personal memories in their viewers. The dark, starry skies are precious to all of us, and we’re grateful for the Dark Skies Coalition’s efforts to keep them an inherent part of Northern Arizona
	The Artist's Gallery – 17 N. San Francisco St. Arline Martens – fabric mixed-media	When: September 6 Time: 5:00 PM-9:00 PM for First Friday Throughout September and October for the gallery exhibit
	As Flagstaff artists, we value the continued inspiration provided by the dark night skies and the beauty of Northern Arizona. Access to the great outdoors and the compelling dark skies renew artists' soul, passion and source for creative expression. Art and science are both based on observation and interpretation, our access to our own dark skies allows our artists, of varied backgrounds and cultures, to observe, study, interpret and preserve our connection to the night. We all benefit from the preservation of dark night skies.
	The Phoenix Avenue Gallery; Art 35 North Art Collective; The Hive Music Center; Human Nature Dance Studio – 2 South Beaver St. Patricia Kearney – Sunrise over the Peaks	When: September 6 Time: 5:00 PM-9:00 PM for First Friday Throughout September and October for the gallery exhibit
	A collaboration between The Phoenix Avenue Gallery, Art 35 North Art Collective, the Human Nature Dance Studio and The Hive Music Center, Offering, a dark skies event with Live Painting, Art Exhibition, Music, Dance Poetry, Performance Storytelling, and a Telescope to view the Dark Skies. The Phoenix Avenue Gallery and Art 35 North Collective will offer a dark sky art exhibition with live painting. The Hive will offer Dark Sky Open Music and Art Jam with the Painting of a Dark Sky Mural. Human Nature Dance Studio will offer the ‘Oracle at Tentrachircle Installation, interactive outdoor performance storytelling music dance.
	The Oracle at Tentrachircle: Improvisational Divination A Fortune Telling Installation	When: Sep 6 5:30-7:30 PM Where: Human Nature Dance Studio Phoenix Avenue at Leroux
	Experience your destiny! The Oracle at Tentrachircle is a fortune-telling installation with story, music and dance, where you are an audience of one or two or possibly three. Each five minute event is free, outdoors and open to all. Look for the unique fabric structure. All are welcome! This event is part of the Phoenix Avenue Dark Skies Art Walk Collaboration. You are invited to schedule your own personal chance to have your oracle read by a small group of Flagstaff artists: storytellers, musicians and dancers. You will cast five large dice and have your fortune told via improvisational performance art. SCHEDULE YOUR VISIT The moon will be waxing in the astrological sign of Libra and so follows the setting sun. This is a time for Balance, Harmony, Peace, and Inspiration. A perfect time for positive intentions, affirmations and visualization. An inspiring time for connecting with our incredible world, the moon, the sun, the cosmos. A perfect time for Oracles.
	West of the Moon Gallery – 14 N. San Francisco St. Anasazi Portal - Shonto Begay	When: September 6 Time: 5:00 PM-9:00 PM for First Friday Throughout September and October for the gallery exhibit
	Celebrating Dark Nights – It’s so wonderful to live in a city where you can see the stars!
	Mountain Sports - Artist reception with Avery Copp of Reed and Rush Jewelry Avery Copp, Reed and Rush Jewelry	When: September 6 Time: 5:00 PM-9:00 PM for First Friday
	Mountain Sports – 24 N. San Francisco St. Featuring custom night sky themed creations

	Mountain Sports - Artist Reception and Environmental Partner Night	When: September 12 Time: 5:30 PM-8:00 PM
	Mountain Sports – 24 N. San Francisco St. Featuring artist Holiday Barnes, information on dark skies, and a raffle, all in support of the Coalition's efforts!

	Virtual Observing with Lowell Observatory	When: Sep 25 8:00-9:00 PM Where: LIVE Online Link Below
	A Dark Sky is Night's Window to the Universe When the great earth, abandoning day, rolls up the deeps of the heavens and the universe, a new door opens for the human spirit…" – Henry Beston Join Lowell Observatory historian Kevin Schindler and the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition for an hour of deep space and dark sky culture facilitated by the Lowell GODO telescopes! Observe

	FLAGSTAFF STAR PARTY Thurs Sept 26 thru Sat Sept 28
	THURSDAY September 26
	Sunset Shadows and Circles Brian Skiff	When: Sep 26 6:00-6:30 PM Where: Buffalo Park 1/4 mile marker on the urban trail (10 minute walk from parking area!)
	Have you ever watched the sunset in the east? Join Lowell Observatory's Brian Skiff as he takes you on insightful tour of the subtle transition from sunset into twilight at Flagstaff's Buffalo Park, including the Earth-shadow and Belt of Venus in the east, as well as layered pastel colors over the Sun in the west. Join lifelong sky watcher Brian and watch shadows stretch to the eastern horizon! See this preview from the 2020 Flagstaff Star Party The Heiligenschein
	TWILIGHT TALK -- Touching the Stars at Grand Canyon National Park Rader Lane	When: Sep 26 6:45-7:15 PM Where: Buffalo Park Pavilion
	Join National Park Service night Ranger Rader Lane as he shares some of his "Night Spoken" videos exploring the interaction of Grand Canyon visitors with night skies, and relates the fascinating story of how Grand Canyon National Park became the most complex International Dark Sky Park in the world!
	Hosted Telescope Observing	When: Sep 26 6:00-10:00 PM Where: Buffalo Park
	FRIDAY September 27
	Sunset Shadows and Circles (reprise) Brian Skiff	When: Sep 27 6:00-6:30 PM Where: Buffalo Park 1/4 mile marker on the urban trail (10 minute walk from parking area!)
	Have you ever watched the sunset in the east? Join Lowell Observatory's Brian Skiff as he takes you on insightful tour of the subtle transition from sunset into twilight at Flagstaff's Buffalo Park, including the Earth-shadow and Belt of Venus in the east, as well as layered pastel colors over the Sun in the west. Join lifelong sky watcher's Brian and watch shadows stretch to the eastern horizon! See this preview from the 2020 Flagstaff Star Party The Heiligenschein
	TWILIGHT TALK -- Guided by the Night: Can Animals See the Stars? Dr. Michael West	When: Sep 27 6:45-7:15 PM Where: Buffalo Park Pavilion
	Human beings have always watched the skies, so it’s not surprising that astronomy is the oldest of all sciences. But what about other animals, can they see the stars too? In this talk, Lowell Observatory's Dr. Michael West will share how some animals use the stars for hunting or migrating, while others lack the vision to be stargazers.
	Hosted Telescope Observing	When: Sep 27 6:00-10:00 PM Where: Buffalo Park
	SATURDAY September 28
	Night Music	When: Sep 28 6:00-7:00 PM Where: Buffalo Park
	Dark Sky Quartet - Violinists Allison O’Bryant and David Koerner, violist Jacquelyn Schwandt, and cellist Stephen Brown will perform works inspired by the night sky. Pieces include a symphony by William Herschel, discoverer of the planet Uranus, and arrangements of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn from The Planets by Gustav Holst. The program will also include the Flagstaff premier of Watcher of the Sky by contemporary composer Bruce Babcock, a work that chronicles the 20th century building of ground-breaking telescopes at Mt. Wilson and Mt. Palomar. Audience members are invited to sit back and watch the universe unfold to this celestial music.
	Hosted Telescope Observing	When: Sep 28 6:00-10:00 PM Where: Buffalo Park

	Flagstaff Dark Skies speaker series at Lowell Observatory
	Jeremy Perez: Flashes in the Night Jeremy Perez	When: Oct 4 7:00-8:00 PM Where: Lowell Observatory Visitor's Center
	From tempestuous weather to space weather, storm chasing and space event chasing can expand our opportunities under dark skies. This photographic tour will explore beautiful night skies and the weather and other events that mingle with them.
	Dr. Danielle Adams: Indigenous Arabian Astronomy and Dark Skies Dr. Danielle Adams	When: Oct 11 7:00-8:00 PM Where: Lowell Observatory Visitor's Center
	Does your favorite star have an Arabic name? Join cultural astronomer Dr. Danielle Adams as she showcases the importance of dark skies to the development of the rich cultural traditions of indigenous Arabian astronomy. Drawing from 6th–10th century CE Arabic texts, she will demonstrate how dark desert skies enabled faint stars near the limits of naked-eye visibility to take prominent roles in the formation of indigenous Arabian star groupings and the stories that gave brighter stars their names.