Three years ago, Jasper National Park was designated a dark sky preserve by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
That same year, Tourism Jasper organized the first Dark Sky Festival鈥攁n event that has grown with popularity each year.
Last weekend, the festival, which started with humble beginnings in 2011, filled every seat in the Chaba Theatre, as astronomy icons shared their knowledge and experiences with a crowd of captivated listeners.
Among the speakers on Saturday was Canadian astronomer David Levy, a prolific comet discoverer, who co-discovered Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which collided with Jupiter in 1994.
During his presentation, Levy told the crowd that that collision 鈥渨as as much of a public event as a scientific event.
鈥淔or a week, most of the people in the world took some time ... to pay attention to a comet that broke into pieces and collided with Jupiter.鈥�
Although it can鈥檛 be said that 鈥渕ost of the people in the world鈥� spent last weekend paying attention to Jasper鈥檚 dark skies, the festival could be compared to the collision of Shoemaker-Levy 9.
The third annual event, like the smashing together of fast-moving rocks in 1994, was as much a public event as it was a scientific one. Visitors and locals alike, came out to hear from the who鈥檚 who of the astronomy world and took time to bundle up and stare at the night sky, whether with their naked eyes or with a telescope at Annette Lake on Friday and Pyramid Island on Saturday.
The crowd varied, attracting everyone from amateur astronomers to kids who just wanted to know where the big dipper hides.
Despite the disparity in knowledge, the event hit the mark, fulfilling the wants and needs of all of its participants.
There were activities for kids at the elementary school, where there was a Space Cadet Fair and the Telus World of Science Planetarium, and on the information centre lawn, where astronomers set up their telescopes and hosted games.
There were also events for people with an interest in the night sky, but no formal training, as well as opportunities for amateur astronomers to grow their knowledge.
With such a wide offering and such a large interest in Jasper鈥檚 skies, there鈥檚 no doubt this festival is a hit.
Why else would Commander Chris Hadfield鈥攖he first Canadian to walk in space and to command the International Space Station鈥攂e planning his trip to Jasper next October?
The retired astronaut is in high demand these days, travelling around the country to speak and share his stories of space travel, and in one year鈥檚 time he will be here to share all of that with Jasper.
If that鈥檚 not a indication of great things to come for this young festival, we don鈥檛 know what is.
So congratulations to the team at Tourism Jasper.
You have created an event that will undoubtedly become a mainstay on any star gazer鈥檚 calendar and you鈥檝e successfully filled a gap in Jasper鈥檚 shoulder season. For that, you deserve more than the Alto Awards you received earlier this week鈥攜ou deserve Jasper鈥檚 thanks.
