Mayo Dark Sky Festival 2026 – 30 October to 1 November

Fri 30 Oct – Sun 1 Nov 2026 |  Newport, Mulranny & Ballycroy | 
Non profit and organised by our local communities www.mayodarkskyfestival.ie

Celebrate ten years of the Mayo Dark Sky Festival with three days of astronomy, nature, culture and music on the doorstep of Ireland’s first International Dark Sky Park.

Friday 30 October – Ballycroy Opening night event in Ballycroy Visitor Centre will feature musicians Seamus and Caoimhe Uí Fhlatharta and Eoin Warner of Ireland’s Wild Islands Refreshments, then a guided dark sky walk and stargazing (weather permitting) Booking.

Saturday 31 October – Newport & Mulranny (check website for details/ venue)
Information here: 
Dr Darragh Ennis – Irish scientist, author, professional quizzer and television personality, best known as ‘The Menace’ on ITV’s hugely popular quiz show The Chase
Richard Sabinn – Principal Curator of Mammals at the Natural History Museum in London and a leading expert on whales, dolphins and other marine mammals.
Dr Andrea Parisi – an ecologist and researcher whose work focuses on the conservation of one of Ireland’s most distinctive and endangered birds – the corncrake.
Stephen Kershaw – owner of KTec Telescopes and keen astrophotographer
Derek Dempsey FRAS – keen amateiur astronomer and founder of Newport Astronomy Club
Karen Dervan – musician and music manager, talking about the Golden Record on the Voyager mission

Sunday 1 November – Mulranny, Ballycroy & Newport
Speakers for SUNDAY include…
Kate MacAney – Bat conservationist with the Vincent Wildlife Trust
Louise Tomsett – Curator of Mammals at the Natural History Museum in London
Bettymaya Foott – science communicator and award-winning astrophotographer, and a former Director of DarkSky International
James O’Neill – Irish ornithologist and conservation researcher with a particular interest in our most elusive and threatened bird species
Prof Michael Wise – internationally respected astrophysicist and General and Scientific Director of SRON, the Netherlands Institute for Space Research
John Zarnecki – distinguished space scientist, astronomer and author and former President of the Royal Astronomical Society
Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell – one of the world’s most celebrated astrophysicists, renowned for her role in one of the most important astronomical discoveries of the 20th century, when she discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967

Closing event – Lantern Walk through Newport
Finale Performance – Jack Lukeman “Dark Skies Shine the brightest stars”
His appearance at Mayo Dark Sky Festival on November 1 – a celestial event celebrating astronomy, culture, wellbeing and biodiversity, whilst building awareness about the impact of light pollution.

Jack Lukeman closes Mayo Dark Sky Festival 2026 with a finale performance on 1 November tickets Booking

Getting around: a free NPWS-funded shuttle bus runs between the three villages. Allow about 20 minutes between neighbouring venues and 40 minutes from Newport to Ballycroy.

Weather: outdoor stargazing depends on clear skies. Bring warm layers and a red-light torch.