More than 150 gathered in Wood Buffalo National Park this past weekend, and they were focused on the sky.

The 8th annual Dark Sky Festival gave participants the opportunity to camp out under the stars, learn about astronomy, work on sky-themed crafts, and even meet Canada's first female astronaut, Roberta Bondar.

Bondar was one of this year's guest presenters, and it was announced over the weekend that the Thebacha and Wood Buffalo Astronomical Society will be naming its observatory after her.

The festival is organized by the astronomical society based in Fort Smith, N.W.T. It ran Aug. 23 to 26.

Mike Couvrette introduces Canadian astronaut Roberta Bondar to attendees at the main dinner Friday night. He announced the society would name its observatory after her. (Submitted by Helena Katz)

Kids at the festival made toy rockets and sent them into the sky. (Marc Winkler/CBC)

Lisa Smith and her daughters, Rachel and Karine do crafts at Dark Sky Festival. They are with the Girl Guides in Hay River, N.W.T., and came specifically to meet Roberta Bondar who was once a girl guide too. (Marc Winkler/CBC)

The northern lights were out in full force Saturday night over the Dark Sky Festival grounds. (Submitted by Mike Vassal)

Drummers from Fort Smith, including David Poitras and Paul Boucher, perform at the feeding of the fire ceremony. (Marc Winkler/CBC)