{"id":13560,"date":"2023-03-10T12:42:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T19:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/?page_id=13560"},"modified":"2026-02-17T13:28:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:28:57","slug":"dark-sky-week","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/what-we-do\/events\/dark-sky-week\/","title":{"rendered":"International Dark Sky Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span>Join us for a week of dark sky celebration, learning, and action!<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><b>What is International Dark Sky Week?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/idsw.darksky.org\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/idsw.darksky.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">International Dark Sky Week<\/a> is a worldwide event that draws attention to light pollution, promotes simple solutions to mitigate the issue, and celebrates the irreplaceable beauty of a natural night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">International Dark Sky Week (IDSW) was started by high school student Jennifer Barlow in 2003 and is now spearheaded by DarkSky International. In explaining why she started the week, Barlow said, \u201cI want people to be able to see the wonder of the night sky without the effects of light pollution. The universe is our view into our past and our vision into the future. I want to help preserve its wonder.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><b>When is International Dark Sky Week?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IDSW is an annual event occurring in April (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/astronomerswithoutborders.org\/gam2020-programs\/program-schedule-2020.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Global Astronomy Month<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), during the week of the new moon when night skies are darkest.&nbsp;<\/span>The next event will be held <strong>April 13-20, 2026<\/strong>.<br><br>IDSW 2027: April 5-11, 2027<br>IDSW 2028: April 24-30 2028<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How can I celebrate International Dark Sky Week?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Get together with friends and family and go outside at night. A lot of us don\u2019t take the opportunity to experience the nighttime environment. Go outside, look up and look around. Lots of interesting stuff is happening during the night. Looking for some adventure? <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/planning-your-next-trip-to-the-dark-side\/\" target=\"_blank\">Plan a trip to the dark side<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Help spread the word about light pollution and the importance of dark skies. This week is a great excuse to talk with friends, family, <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/our-work\/lighting\/lighting-for-citizens\/my-neighbors-lighting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">neighbors<\/a>, your homeowner\u2019s association, or <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/our-work\/lighting\/public-policy\/policy-makers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">government representatives<\/a> about why protecting our night environment is so crucial.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Become a citizen scientist and collect data about the night sky in your neighborhood for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.globeatnight.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Globe at Night<\/a>. It\u2019s fun, easy and you\u2019ll be helping scientists across the globe better understand the threat of light pollution to&nbsp;our planet.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stopping light pollution isn\u2019t just about seeing the stars. There are other important things at stake, too. Use this week to take the time to learn more about the effect of artificial light at night on <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/light-pollution\/human-health\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">human health<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/light-pollution\/wildlife\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the environment<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/light-pollution\/energy-waste\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">energy waste<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/light-pollution\/lighting-crime-and-safety\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crime and safety<\/a> and our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\/light-pollution\/night-sky-heritage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">heritage of night skies<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Join the conversation!&nbsp;Use the hashtag #IDSW on social media to share how you\u2019re celebrating International Dark Sky Week and connect with other people passionate about dark skies.&nbsp;Check out DarkSky on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IDAdarksky\/\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/idadarksky\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instagram<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/idadarksky\">Twitter, <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/international-dark-sky-association\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Join us for a week of dark sky celebration, learning, and action! What is International Dark Sky Week? International Dark Sky Week is a worldwide event that draws attention to light pollution, promotes simple solutions to mitigate the issue, and celebrates the irreplaceable beauty of a natural night.\u00a0 International Dark Sky Week (IDSW) was started &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":13570,"parent":63,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"advocacy_type":[],"events_terms":[9],"locations_terms":[],"admin_issue":[],"class_list":["post-13560","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-what-we-do","events_terms-events"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13560"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36463,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13560\/revisions\/36463"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/63"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13560"},{"taxonomy":"advocacy_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/advocacy_type?post=13560"},{"taxonomy":"events_terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/events_terms?post=13560"},{"taxonomy":"locations_terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/locations_terms?post=13560"},{"taxonomy":"admin_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darksky.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/admin_issue?post=13560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}