The 2025 Star Party dates are Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5, 2025. The theme will be "Your place in space."

 

2024 North Carolina Statewide Star Party

Thanks to generous grant support from the North Carolina Space Grant, the 2024 North Carolina Science Festival again featured the Statewide Star Party as a signature initiative.

During this 12th annual Statewide Star Party, 37 hosts offered public skywatching events across North Carolina from Friday, April 5th to Monday, April 8th, 2024. This year’s theme was “Sun & Moon” in honor of the April 8th solar eclipse. Star Party hosts included state and local parks, colleges and universities, planetariums, science centers, nature centers, and libraries. Nearly 16,000 visitors participated in Star Party events this year.

2024 Statewide Star Party Locations

County	City	Organization
Alamance	Greensboro	Science Everywhere at UNC Greensboro
Bertie	Windsor	Bertie County Public Library
Cabarrus	Harrisburg	Cabarrus County Public Libraries
Camden	South Mills	Dismal Swamp State Park
Cumberland	Fayetteville	Fayetteville State University Planetarium
Cumberland	Hope Mills	Cumberland County Public Library
Dare	Nags Head	Jockey's Ridge State Park
Durham	Durham	City of Durham - Parks and Recreation
Forsyth	Winston-Salem	Forsyth County Public Library
Forsyth	Winston-Salem	Kaleideum
Gaston	Gastonia	Schiele Museum of Natural History and Planetarium
Guilford	Greensboro	Greensboro Science Center
Guilford	Jamestown	Cline Observatory and Guilford Technical Community College
Iredell	Troutman	Lake Norman State Park
Lee	Sanford	Lee County Libraries
Macon	Highlands	Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust
Mecklenburg	Charlotte	UNC Charlotte Observatory
Moore	Southern Pines	Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve
Nash	Nashville	Town of Nashville - Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources
New Hanover	Wilmington	Cape Fear Museum
Onslow	Swansboro	Hammocks Beach State Park
Orange	Chapel Hill	Morehead Planetarium and Science Center
Pasquotank	Elizabeth City	College of the Albemarle
Pender	Rocky Point	Science Alliance of Eastern NC
Pitt	Grifton	NC Museum of Natural Sciences at Contentnea Creek
Randolph	Asheboro	Asheboro Public Library
Rowan	China Grove	Rowan Public Library System
Surry	Dobson	Surry Community College
Vance	Henderson	Perry Memorial Library
Wake	Durham	Triangle Land Conservancy
Wake	Garner	Town of Garner - Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources
Wake	Apex	The American Tobacco Trail
Wake	Raleigh	NC Museum of Natural Science
Warren	Henderson	Kerr Lake State Recreation Area
Wilson	Wilson	Imagination Station Science and History Museum
Yancey	Burnsville	Yancey County Public Library
Yancey	Spruce Pine	Mayland Earth to Sky Park

Stay tuned for information on the 2025 NC Statewide Star Party!

For more information, please contact:
Amy Sayle
Coordinator, NC Statewide Star Party
Email: starparty@unc.edu 

The Statewide Star Party is made possible with the support of NC Space Grant and the NC Science Festival.

Click here for Star Party kit materials (including previous years)