When night falls, the sky above Joshua Tree National Park in California reveals countless twinkling stars. Increasingly, light pollution from surrounding towns and cities dulls the display. To call attention to the issue, and to kick off next year’s National Park Service centennial, the first Joshua Tree National Park Night Sky Festival will be held from Oct. 16 to 18.

Following the lead of similar festivals at national parks across the country, the Joshua Tree event will include nighttime telescope and daytime solar scope viewings, ranger-led wildlife hikes and a panel discussion on women in science. Tyler Nordgren, a visual artist and professor of physics and astronomy at University of Redlands, will give a talk on the night sky, a significant yet misunderstood portion of the national parks landscape.

“The Milky Way, stretching from horizon to horizon, was something that every generation of human beings used to be able to see,” Mr. Nordgren said.

Now, most Southern California residents must travel to national parks to catch a glimpse. But future night sky visibility hinges on a commitment to curbing well-lit lifestyles. Artificial glare from the Coachella Valley, Los Angeles and Las Vegas has already affected Milky Way visibility within Joshua Tree National Park, according to an ongoing study by the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center and Earth Observation Group. Light pollution is reversible, however, and the National Park Service has listed dark sky protection as one of its second-century goals.