THIS year's dark skies festival jointly held in the Yorkshire Dales and Moors national parks is said to have helped generate more than £200,000 for businesses and organisations.

One of the most popular events at February's festival was a collaboration between the Settle to Carlisle Railway and The Station Inn at Ribblehead.

With many of the more than 100 events selling out early and attracting a healthy waiting list, the national parks say the popularity of the now biannual event underlines its status as a UK calendar fixture and its importance as a valuable off-season income booster for businesses.

Since the first festival in 2016, it has grown in terms of visitor numbers and where people travel from, as well as the breadth of events, underlining both of the national parks’ standing as a ‘go-to’ night sky destination.

Despite the first few days being hampered by gales and snow, this year saw almost 5,000 visitors, and with many businesses saying they would have needed to replicate their events two or three times over to have cleared the waiting list.

Based on the attendance numbers and using an event evaluation calculator, organisers estimate that the festival will have helped generate more than £200,000.

The figure relates to both direct purchases such as event tickets as well as indirect spending on items such as food and drink or overnight accommodation for a proportion of visitors.

Helen Dalton, tourism officer for the Yorkshire Dales National Park said: “When we look back to the initial festival, the events were mainly centred on traditional stargazing and astronomy evenings. While these still remain a core, and very important part, we’ve seen how more businesses and organisations are putting their own spin on the theme to appeal to new audiences - whether it’s stargazing combined with an evening meal, a cycle ride, a paddle on a reservoir or a mindfulness session.

“We’ve also seen how more businesses and venues are working together to stage events; a prime example being the Settle to Carlisle Railway collaborating with The Station Inn at Ribblehead to put on a fantastic celebration of the dark sky that sold-out. Despite gales and snow the event went ahead with people still wanting to venture out on the train from Leeds to enjoy the evening.”

The festival is also proving to be a useful platform for sharing the wider message that night skies are worth protecting within the context of climate change for both human and the natural world’s benefit.

Talks by organisations such as the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the national parks’ own dark sky officers have helped generate greater understanding of the need to preserve the quality of the skies above and the hard work that is being done to monitor and minimise light pollution.

Leaflets were also handed out to visitors giving simple advice on how they can improve their own external lighting to safeguard the night sky.

Helen added: “Essentially as the festival matures, we’re seeing the momentum among businesses grow as more recognise the benefits associated with astro tourism while visitors can take away important messages about how each and everyone of us can do our bit to protect the night sky.

The next Fringe Dark Skies Festival takes place from October 21 to October 30. Programme information, including booking details will be available in due course on www.darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk