Whether this is your first ever star party or you’re coming on your own, there’s no need to feel intimidated or nervous that you don’t know anyone. You’re guaranteed a warm welcome, lots of help and advice, a social area (The Common) to share stories and the eyepiece, and, of course, dark skies to observe or image the Universe beyond.
We've seen many people who have nervously come along by themselves to their first ever star party and left with dozens of new friends and bags more experience of what they can observe and how to do it. Just as we'd intended for this friendliest of star parties.
We gather in the small Welsh village of Cwmdu twice a year to promote astronomy with talks, workshops and a pub quiz with telescope giveaways. Cwmdu is in the International Dark Sky Reserve of Bannau Brycheiniog, so the skies are internationally recognised for their stargazing potential. In fact, having observed in many sites around the world, we chose Cwmdu because of how much the Milky Way and other galaxies stand out and how much the star clusters dazzle.
But even if you don’t have a scope, you’re still absolutely welcome - we have many people come along without any equipment (just an interest in astronomy) so we let the shared eyepiece views and the relaxing and sociable aspects of AstroCamp take care of everything else (although the breakfasts at the nearby café and the real ales at the local pub have proven popular too!)
When selecting a pitch you will be charged the cost of an event ticket and campsite charges for one adult and, where applicable, the electric hook-up charge for that pitch. You can add additional adults and children to your pitch via the "Options" list during the booking process.
Event ticket:
Campsite prices (for the three nights of Astrocamp):
Pitch 28 will be unavailable this camp, EHU will be added to pitch 29 instead
Old Smithy "Efail Isaf" and Little Smithy "Efail Bach" cottages:.
Not keen on camping or glamping and prefer to have some creature comforts? These cottages overlook the campsite and allow you to sleep in comfort while still being able to enjoy the events at AstroCamp.
The Old Smithy sleeps 6 people in 3 bedrooms or 7 people including the sofa bed in the living room. The cottage can be booked for four nights (Friday-Monday) at a discounted price of £572 by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. when bookings open. Every adult staying in the cottage who wants to attend the event will also need to purchase a separate offsite event ticket. Bookings are strictly first come, first served.
Little Smithy "Efail Bach" cottage is reserved for our guest speaker and will not be available this camp.