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 the Brecon Beacons, 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!)

To help people get to know each other before each AstroCamp and stay in touch afterwards, we have a vibrant Facebook group, a Twitter feed and you can share or peruse photos of past events on our Flickr page.

Come and enjoy the universe with us!