Starlight Festival is Out of This World

It’s easy to learn when you’re having fun, and this year’s Starlight Festival in Big Bear Lake was no exception! Numerous scientists, astronomers, and even some astronauts put on their best demonstrations to show people of all ages how amazing the universe really is. The weekend of May 24-25, a festival for star lovers was put on for free at Northwoods Resort at Big Bear Lake. Every year since 1975 the Riverside Telescope Makers Conference (RTMC) Astronomy Expo is put on to educate, provide awareness, and create a better understanding of sciences in a way that people will not forget, and will hopefully build a bigger community of stargazers and provide pollution and telescope awareness. The ultimate goal of the festival is to encourage a greater interest in astronomy altogether. Some of this years booths made sure to capture the interest of people of all ages, including Explora, who creates an affordable dome for your own backyard to block wind or light for better telescope viewing, and Painted Stars, who, according to exhibitionist Eddie Phillips, “will come to your house and will paint an exact replica of the stars in the sky that only show when the lights go out.” There was a children's area called the STEM zone where children of all ages did activities such as create their own planets using decorated CDs and they got to play with Lego robots built with the people of SMaRT Education. According to Liberty Naud, an exhibitionist at the festival and President and CEO of the company, SMaRT Education is a non-profit organization that prides themselves in putting together programs “that get kids really excited about participating in STEM.” They have camps and programs for children from kindergarten all the way through to college. There was also an air rocket building activity where children built their own rockets and shot them off with an air compressor, and a robot by the name of “Rad the Robot.” The grounds were covered in telescopes of all shapes and sizes for the public’s viewing. One of the awareness groups at the festival was the International Dark-Sky Association, who demonstrated how light pollution harms all kinds of wildlife. One example of harm on wildlife included the fact that birds get drawn to light sources at night and will become trapped in light beams not wanting to wander back into the dark, which in turn can cause them to fall from exhaustion or become prey for hungry predators. RTMC was also present at the festival, where they provided a plethora of information on astronomy, astronomy clubs, and telescopes. Their biggest goal is to build the astronomy community, and to get people to find a telescope to see for themselves why the sky is so amazing. Harold Johnson, an exhibitionist for RTMC, informed people that they “should definitely learn about telescopes before going out and buying one for themselves. Vendors at the Starlight Festival will work with the customer to ensure thy receive the best equipment to meet their needs and desires." Johnson didn’t buy his first telescope until “about four or five years after making the decision” that he wanted to purchase one. The two events worked well together, one in town the other in a dark sky location. Those who already are amateur astronomers want the dark skies found at YMCA Camp Oaks where the Astronomy Expo is held. Casual visitors to Big Bear Lake may prefer the convenience of the city location for the Starlight Festival. Johnson issued passes for free admission to the star party at Astronomy Expo. Overall, the festival was highly educational for any person, and created a fun learning atmosphere for young astronomers.