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seasonal · Friday 30 October 2026 · Various 
Mayo Dark Sky Festival 2026
At Hotel Newport and locations across Newport, Mulranny and Ballycroy · Main St, Newport, Co. Mayo, F28 YX89
At Hotel Newport and locations across Newport, Mulranny and Ballycroy · Main St, Newport, Co. Mayo, F28 YX89
The Mayo Dark Sky Festival marks its 10th anniversary from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November 2026, based at Hotel Newport with events spread across Newport, Mulranny and Ballycroy, one of Ireland’s most pristine dark sky regions on the Wild Atlantic Way. The programme runs across the Halloween weekend and mixes daytime exploration of the area’s landscapes and heritage with evening stargazing, guided walks, expert talks and astrophotography workshops. Seashore safaris and family-friendly sessions are aimed at younger visitors, while musical performances add to the evening atmosphere. The festival’s signature closing event is its Lantern Walk, a torch-lit procession that has become the weekend’s best-known image and ties the dark-sky theme neatly to the season’s shortening days. Organisers describe it as a genuinely family occasion, with kids going free across the weekend.
Reaching its tenth year in 2026, the festival has grown from a small local initiative into one of the anchor autumn events on the Mayo tourism calendar, timed deliberately for the Halloween bank holiday weekend when the clocks have not yet gone back and the area’s genuinely dark skies are at their most dramatic for stargazing. Spreading the programme across three separate villages - Newport, Mulranny and Ballycroy - rather than concentrating everything in one location reflects the geography of the Dark Sky Park itself, which stretches along a wide corridor of Wild Nephin National Park and the surrounding coastline rather than sitting in a single spot.
Newport is on the N59 between Westport and Mulranny, about 20 minutes’ drive from Westport. Westport, the nearest town with rail and Bus Eireann links to Dublin and Athlone, connects on to Newport by local bus or car. On-street and hotel parking is available in Newport village for festival visitors.
Heading to Hotel Newport and locations across Newport, Mulranny and Ballycroy in Newport? Mayo has plenty more to see. Read the Newport area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.