Join us for the second annual Stars & Guitars event on Saturday, April 19, 2025. 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 the night sky 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.

Our Earth Week celebration continues the following Saturday with the Earth Day Service Project where participants will learn about the Homegrown National Park Initiative and pull invasive garlic mustard.

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 on Saturday April 19 with a Naturalist-guided hike on the Sensory Explorers’ Trail. But when twilight ascends, we will shift from the environmental 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. This annual celebration commemorates the over-50-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.

Pictrola will be the headlining band 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 musicians like, Pictrola, a DC-area band that “fuses modern bluegrass with rock, jazz, folk, swing, and jams, performing a mixture of originals and fun takes on crowd favorites.” You will also be treated to the acoustic stylings of The Dan Ryan Expressway, a guitar and keyboard duo playing a range of toe-tapping tunes.

The Dan Ryan Expressway

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 Happy Family Ranch.

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.