THOUSANDS of people have descended on the North York Moors for their celebration of stargazing, the inaugural Dark Skies Festival.

The North York Moors authority, in collaboration with the Dales National Park, staged the festival, which included a week of events and activities for a variety of ages.

The national parks, which are areas of relatively little light pollution, are hoping to increase levels of "astro-tourism".

The festival was the first visitor-focused joint event that the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales national parks have done together.

A spokesperson said that it was such a success they hoped to combine future campaigns and events in this way. Particularly successful, they said, was working with local schools, with local businesses getting involved and interest in the dark skies over the parks increasing.

Visitor numbers are still being collated so the total figures are expected to go up, but nearly 4,000 people visited the Sutton Bank National Park centre over the half-term week, and almost 3,500 visited the Moors National Park Centre at Danby.

Julie Crocker, visitor centre coordinator at the Sutton Bank National Park Centre in the North York Moors National Park, said: "We held a telescope-making event during the Dark Skies festival where children made and decorated a telescope. It proved to be very popular with families. We also had a variety of crafts associated with Dark Skies which were available all week.

"These activities were also very popular and we now offer a permanent craft table with themed crafts at the centre."

Events were held at the Dalby Forest Visitor Centre in Low Dalby, Rievaulx Terrace, Sutton Bank National Park Centre and the Moors National Park Centre at Danby, which has just been granted dark skies status.

Michael Graham, assistant director of park services, said: "The location of the visitor centre, just outside the village of Danby, makes it an ideal spot for visitors to step outside and simply look skywards to see the beauty of the stars.

"We now have three fantastic official sites that people can easily reach to go on a celestial safari."

Among the events, there were trails through Dalby forest, crafts, telescope making, a night-vision wildlife tour, open telescope sessions, "celestial safaris" and a lecture on "brown dwarf" stars by Dr Stuart Littlefair, hosted by the Scarborough and Ryedale Astronomical Society (SARAS).

On Saturday there was also an evening star party for families hosted by the Whitby and District Astronomical Society, which featured illustrated talks and expert advice on stargazing.

Gareth Dockerty, forest ranger at Forest Holidays Keldy, said: "Being involved in the Dark Skies activities was a fantastic way to show not only the beautiful skies, but also to promote the wildlife."

The coming year will also see a schedule of cosmos-related events. For more information, visit northyorkmoors.org.uk