August 25, 2017
(Photo: Janna Jaque)
The August 17-20 Dark Sky Festival had more to celebrate than amazing skies last week; the event was sold out. The annual festival takes place in Fort Smith and Wood Buffalo National Park, which is home to the world’s largest Dark Sky Preserve.
Did You Know: The Dark Sky Preserve in Wood Buffalo National Park is larger than all dark sky sites in the world combined?
Tourism Opportunity
Mike Couvrette is the Chairperson of the Thebacha and Wood Buffalo Astronomical Society
(TAWBAS). He says this year’s event was a bigger tourist draw than in the past.
“We’re definitely seeing an increase in the number of non-residents attending the Dark Sky Festival. In 2016, roughly 35% of participants were from out of town, whereas this year it was almost 50%. As more people become aware of the festival, I think we’ll see it grow to be one of our territory’s feature tourism attractions.”
Melissa Johns, ITI’s Business Programs Office in Fort Smith agrees. “There is definitely an interest in astronomy, as we saw from the recent solar eclipse. As the world’s largest Dark Sky Preserve, Wood Buffalo National Park is something that will pique people’s interest and encourage them to travel to the South Slave Region.”
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment provided support for this year’s festival through the Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development Program.
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New to the Festival: Fort Smith Star Park and Observatory
For the first time ever, tourists had the chance to visit and stargaze from the comfort of the Fort Smith Observatory.
Over the course of the 4-day family-friendly event, astronomy enthusiasts were able to take part in workshop, ask questions and listen to presentations, and learn about science and space through fun, interactive activities.
ITI provided funding in 2015-16 for the building of the observatory under the Tourism Product Diversification and Marketing Program. It is yet another asset with which to promote tourism in the region.
"With the completion of the Fort Smith Star Park and Observatory, TAWBAS can now offer high quality viewing experiences and tour related programs to avid astronomers, aurora viewing enthusiast and other tourist visiting the region," Couvrette says.
(Photo: Peter McMahon)