
View Hill School will hold the festival in collaboration with Oxford Dark Sky, the University of Canterbury and the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand on Friday, August 2, from 6.30pm to 9.30pm at 496 Island Rd.
Principal Pax O'Dowd said they saw an opportunity to celebrate and showcase the dark sky honour Oxford was recently awarded.
The Oxford Dark Sky Group gained dark sky park status from Dark Sky International for the Oxford Forest Conservation Reserve in January.
"They are joining a select few towns in other parts of the country who have received the international award.
"Now is the time to celebrate and help the community to embrace the dark skies."
O'Dowd said the school is happy to host the event as it has wonderful views of the night sky.
"We are a wee bit out of Oxford and this offers us wonderful stargazing opportunities."
There will be fun activities at the event, says O'Dowd.
"The University of Canterbury will be bringing out their high-tech lasers and they will have telescopes and their meteorite camera on hand to use as well.
"Members of the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand and Oxford Dark Sky will be on hand to talk about their passion for the night sky."
This will help raise awareness for the Dark Sky programme and also give the community a chance to connect with the programme.
"It will be a nice winter event for the community, and we will have hot food and drinks for sale, tickets can be purchased through humanitix.com online or at the door on the night.
"It is going to be a fun-filled night for everyone as we have much to offer," says O'Dowd.
- Tickets will cost $5 for general admission and $10 for a family of up to six people. They can be bought here. If there is excessive cloud cover or rain on August 2, plan B is to hold the event a week later on Saturday, August 10, at 496 Island Rd, View Hill, Oxford.