WONDERS of the night will be celebrated at February's Dark Skies Festival in North Yorkshire, with events such as moon-gazing, lantern-making workshops and space-themed crafts for children.

Astronomy author and broadcaster Colin Stuart will be at Dalesbridge in Austwick, near Settle, on February 16 with the Ingleton stargazers; there will be a virtual tour of the cosmos in a planetarium at Kirkby Lonsdale on February 17.

With a supermoon expected in February, Simonstone Hall near Hawes is laying on a special evening that will include moon-gazing with the help of powerful telescopes and even a specially-created Dark Skies Galaxy Delight ice cream, also on February 17.

The Churchmouse at Barbon is to host an evening in the company of stargazing guru Stuart Atkinson on February 16; and photographer Pete Collins will share tips on night-time camera techniques at Broadrake near Ingleton on February 18.

The festival will feature the first public screening in the UK of a thought-provoking documentary about the impact of light pollution on the world’s population, wildlife and the environment.

Saving the Dark was first released in America in 2018 and will be shown at five screenings in the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks during the 17-day festival (February 15-March 3).

The highest pub in Britain, Tan Hill Inn near Reeth, will be holding its first star camp, with a full weekend of stargazing from March 1 to 3.

Youngsters will be well catered for with space-themed crafting sessions, storytelling and forest school events.

A woodland lantern procession at Freeholders’ Wood, Aysgarth, and a pizza planet party in Hawes will all add to the entertainment.

Each national Park taking part in the festival has three Dark Sky Discovery locations where skies are sufficiently dark to potentially view the Milky Way with the naked eye. The Yorkshire Dales sites are at Hawes, Malham and Buckden; while the North York Moors locations are at The Moors National Park Centre at Danby, Sutton Bank and Dalby Forest.

For full details and bookings, see www.darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk. A number of events will be free while others will have a small charge attached.

The Dark Skies Festival is part of Destination Partnerships Moors and Dales, a partnership project running until August 31, 2019 to boost rural tourism across the four protected landscapes within North Yorkshire - the North York Moors National Park, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.