5th Annual Dark Sky Festival

I grew up in the city of Manila and when I was little, me, my sisters and my cousins would take our summer vacation in the province of Nueva Ecija, where our grandparents live. During that time, there’s not much to do, really. No internets, no video games and other electronic stuff that kids spend so much time nowadays. So our favorite pastime specially at night, is to lay down in our garden and count stars, which you can’t do in the city. Why? Because of the very polluted air, and lots of huge buildings with tons of lights, you can barely see or distinguish the stars. Even here in Illinois, you still can’t do that because at this point its still gloomy all the time and I just heard from the news that it’s gonna be snowing this week.

However, I know a place where you can enjoy night-sky free from the effects of excessive artificial lighting. It will be held on the 5th of April 2008 in Harmony, Florida. It is called the 5th Annual Dark Sky Festival at Harmony. The festival’s goal is to educate people about lighting that help reduce light pollution. Anyways, the festival is free and open to everyone. People will be able to enjoy and view the night skies thru telescopes, enjoy food, music while kids can play in the Cosmic Kids Zone. You can even meet astronomers and scientists. I am sure everybody will have fun. If you want to know more about it, read the press release below.

Press Release:
Get Ready! This Year’s Dark Sky Festival is Out-of-this-World

HARMONY, FL – March 15, 2008 – The 5th Annual Dark Sky Festival at Harmony will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2008. Sponsored by the Harmony Institute, the Kissimmee Convention and Visitors Bureau, several astronomy clubs, the Osceola News Gazette and Florida Travel & Life Magazine, the event will kick off at 7pm in Harmony's Town Square.

“The Dark Sky Festival is intended to celebrate and promote the benefits of a night-sky free from the effects of excessive artificial lighting,” said Greg Golgowski, Harmony’s Conservation Director and a key member of the Dark Sky Festival Planning Committee. “Poor outdoor lighting not only washes out the splendor of the heavens, but also reduces visibility at night, wastes energy, and disturbs wildlife.”

As with the past four Dark Sky Festivals, attendees will be able to enjoy viewing the night skies through a variety of telescopes. There also be lots of music and food, numerous specialty booths, an educational zone with presentations from astronomers and other scientists, nocturnal creatures, a Cosmic Kids Zone and so much more.”

Local favorite, the Silver Clouds Orchestra, will start the entertainment portion of the evening at 7:00pm. This will be followed by a free concert by legendary recording artists, Rare Earth.

Rare Earth will take to Harmony’s outdoor amphitheatre stage at 8:00pm for a live concert chock full of their greatest hits including “Get Ready” and “I Just Want to Celebrate.”

“We are ecstatic to have Rare Earth performing at this year’s Festival,” said Shad Tome, president of Harmony Development Group. “We are encouraging everyone to wear comfortable shoes because Rare Earth is known for getting the whole audience up and dancing.”

The festival will be emceed by Magic 107.7’s afternoon drive on-air personality and program director Ken Payne.

The Festival is open to the general public. Over 3,500 people are expected to attend the event this year. The event will conclude around 11:00pm.

This date was selected because it falls on the heels of National Dark Sky week (March 29 – April 4); where people in the United States are encouraged to turn out their unnecessary outdoor lights in order to temporarily reduce light pollution.

For more information, please visit www.DarkSkyFestival.com or call 407-891-8358.