The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra Strings’ overture calms a boisterous crowd on a warm October evening. I’m snuggled under a blanket in Jasper National Park as dusk falls, looking up at a sea of stars amid the Milky Way’s radiance. Below, snow-capped mountains soar toward the sky, and the glistening, glacial-blue waters of Lac Beauvert disappear into the pitch-black night.
The annual Dark Sky Festival (17 October to 2 November 2025) in Jasper National Park, one of the biggest and easiest-to-access dark sky preserves in the world, features a variety of events, including Symphony Under the Stars.
The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) designated 11,000 square kilometers of protected area as a Dark Sky Preserve in 2011.
