Join us for the inaugural Stars & Guitars event on Saturday, April 20, 2024. What better way to celebrate Earth Day and Global Astronomy Month, than an evening of music under the stars surrounded by the beauty of the great outdoors at Sky Meadows State Park?

As an International Dark Sky Park, Sky Meadows is the ideal location for celebrating Global Astronomy Month.

This special event is sure to be a fun and relaxing way for family and friends to bask in the outdoor environment, with a winning combination of astronomy and live music. There is truly something for everyone, all for the low price of our normal daily parking fee of $10 per car.

Celebrate our environment.

You are invited to join our Earth Day Service Project earlier in the day, to help plant native trees along Boston Mill Road Trail.

As a Virginia State Park, one of the ways we fulfill our mission is by providing park programs on special days such as Earth Day. We will be offering programming earlier in the day, including a service project and a Naturalist-guided hike. But when twilight ascends, we will shift from the service and education side of Earth Day to the serious business of having fun.

A beautiful evening in a beautiful park is a great way to celebrate both earth and sky.

Live music, food trucks and stargazing are a great way to cap off your celebration of Earth Day. Although this is an inaugural event at the park, it commemorates the over-fifty-year history of Earth Day and the birth of the modern environmental movement. Not only that, but April is also known as Earth Month and Global Astronomy Month; all the more reason to celebrate our environment and our night sky.

Celebrate our dark sky.

Members of the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club offer their telescopes and expertise to help make stargazing accessible during park programs and special events.

Sky Meadows State Park has the distinction of being recognized as an International Dark Sky Place. This is a prestigious designation from DarkSky International which means the park has shown that its outdoor lighting policy minimizes light pollution, and that we have organized programs for stargazing and education on the importance of dark sky conservation. The park is uniquely situated just outside of the urban areas of DC and Northern Virginia, providing public access to view the stars under dark skies, something that is becoming a rarer opportunity as urban development expands.

Celebrate a special evening of Stars & Guitars.

Molly Baker will be performing live on our back porch stage as part of Stars & Guitars.

Get ready to kick back under the beauty of the dark sky at Sky Meadows, to appreciate the stars with some accompanying guitars. This special evening has a schedule that includes local musicians like Molly Baker, a singer-songwriter from Virginia, who plays original music as well as covers of old favorites. You will also be treated to the acoustic styling of Mill Creek, a folk band playing a wide range of traditional and modern acoustic music.

Local acoustic trio, Mill Creek

In addition to the musical ambiance, there will be plenty of food and beverages for sale from some delicious local vendors. Food trucks and vendors planning to join the event include Rick's Jerk Pit, C & C Frozen Treats, and Something About Her Lemonade.

The Mt. Bleak back porch turns into our event stage, for special evenings like this one.

This exciting special event will truly be a celebration of our biggest natural resource (the sky and universe,) so come on out to show your appreciation and share an unforgettable night at the park. You might even decide to take your appreciation of the night sky further, and take steps to limit light pollution at home and in your community. If you are an amateur astronomer interested in becoming a Dark Sky volunteer at Sky Meadows, contact the park’s Volunteer Coordinator at skvolunteer@dcr.virginia.gov to learn more.

The park is proud of our International Dark Sky designation and the work we’re doing to mitigate light pollution and educate the public on the importance of dark sky conservation.