Hebrides lights up with new festival

Visit Scotland has just announced a brand new festival to bring tourists on the hunt for the northern lights to the Hebrides. The ‘Hebridean Dark Skies Festival’ will take place in February at An Lanntair arts centre in Stornoway and at key locations including Gallan Head, Lewis and Harris.

If a pitch black and (almost certainly) chilly trip to the Hebridean isles sounds like it could be extreme, Visit Scotland are keen to remind travellers that the Hebrides hold some of the most likely places to see the mesmerising northern lights. Offering the darkest skies anywhere in the UK, if luck and weather are in your favour, the aurora borealis could very well be the headline act.

“Lewis and Harris are incredible places to visit all year round, and with this festival we are giving people another compelling reason to travel here during the winter months – as well as putting on a packed programme of events for those of us who live here to enjoy,” says Andrew Eaton-Lewis, events and marketing co-ordinator of the festival.

Part science festival, part arts festival, the event will host singers Emma Pollock and Rachel Sermanni as well as astronomer John Brown. Children’s theatre, a silent movie accompanied by a live orchestra and photographic exhibitions will also be part of the line up.

The Hebridean Darkest Skies festival will take place from 8-21 February 2019. Visit Ann Lanntair for more information.