NOCTURNA Saturday Pass
Sat 12 Aug
2:30pm – 10pm
Doors + Music from 1:30pm
$140 + Booking Fee
Spring Bay Mill, East Coast Tas
Experience: Connect | Food & Drink | Interactive | Music | Outdoors | Talk
Themes: Conversation Starter | Dark Skies | Field Trip | Unseen
Access: Seated Option | Wheelchair Access
Beneath a dense tapestry of stars…
Join us on lutruwita/Tasmania’s stunning East Coast, one of the darkest inhabited spots on Earth, for stargazing, scientific talks, live music, storytelling, and gathering around the warm glow of open fires with a whisky or mulled cider.
Welcome to NOCTURNA, a celebration of the fragile beauty of the cosmos — embracing our long winter nights and taking the time to gaze at our still-pristine dark skies, a precious natural resource that is under threat from light pollution. The increasingly widespread use of artificial light outdoors not only impairs our view of the universe, but also adversely affects our sleep, our mood, our environment — and the many nocturnal species that inhabit it.
Situated at the breathtaking Spring Bay Mill, we’ll hear from astronomers, neuroscientists, members of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and Dark Sky Tasmania about the simple steps we can take to preserve the darkness and our connection to nature.
Saturday Program
1:30pm: Doors Open — Get your bearings during daylight. Explore the site, enjoy some live music, and grab a drink or some food, and settle in for a beautiful evening ahead
2:30pm: Talks Program — Before night sets in, we’ll take in a few fascinating talks in the Tin Shed. Hear from:
- Dr Simin Salarpour — From Cosmic Giants to Earthly Precision
- Dr Glen Bain (Tasmanian Land Conservancy) — Who’s Your Neighbour? Get to know your local nocturnal wildlife
- Dr Lila Landowski — Lights Out: The neuroscience of better sleep
4:45pm: Theresa Sainty — Statement of Country
5pm: Emily Sanzaro — Countdown to Sundown performance on harp at the amphitheatre
5:21pm: Sunset
5:45pm: Telescopes with the Astronomical Society of Tasmania (all night long!)
5:45pm: Georgia Shine on cello
6:15pm: Settle in by the fire and enjoy talks from Dark Sky Tasmania. Hear from Landon Bannister and Dr Lisa Cawthen on the Dark Sky movement and the nocturnal wonders all around us.
7pm: Runaway Belles performance (Emma Anglesey and Tash Parker)
7:30pm: Theresa Sainty, Andry Sculthorpe, Nunami Sculthorpe-Green — kani mapiya patrula — Learn how palawa people view the night skies of lutruwita, and the impact of colonisation on milaythina wurangkili, or Sky Country.
8pm: Dr Emily Flies — Access to Dark Skies and Social Justice
8:30pm: Guided stargazing with the Astronomical Society of Tasmania
9:15pm: Musical performances + bars open + kick on around the fire under the stars!
+ Chef Lilly Trewartha cooking over coals + More delicious local food and drink options for sale + Nature Connections storytelling pod + Great conversations with great people + More
*Times are subject to change. We’ll send out a finalised program to all ticket holders before the event.
Stay on Site
Accommodation options and breakfast the following morning can be booked at checkout.
MC
Jane Longhurst is an award-winning actor, broadcaster with ABC Local Radio, voice artist and popular presenter of events big and small. She has worked extensively in theatre, television and radio since graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts. Her television credits include Rosehaven (ABC), Death or Liberty (Roar Media), Blue Heelers (Southern Star Group), A Country Practice (JNP Productions), Neighbours (Grundy Television Productions), Janus (ABC), an AFI Award winning episode of GP (ABC) and the forthcoming series Deadloch (Amazon) and Bay of Fires (Archipelago Productions and Fremantle) to screen later this year.
Recent theatre credits include the first two performances of her Black Bag Trilogy: Happy Days by Samuel Beckett, (Mona Foma 2021 Launceston and Hobart) and Request Programme by Franz Xaver Kroetz staged at Detached Cultural Organisation for Beaker Street Festival (2022), both directed by Robert Jarman. For Request Programme, Jane was awarded the Best Professional Performance in a Leading Role at the recent 2023 Tasmanian Theatre Awards.
A keen sports lover and popular fill in presenter and producer on ABC Local Radio, (including ABC Rural, ABC Grandstand and ABC Classic), Jane also regularly presents concerts with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Presenting Partner
In Association With
Programming Partners
A Seat at the Table
Beaker Street Festival’s pay-it-forward initiative, A Seat at the Table, helps make our science and art offerings accessible to those who can’t afford to purchase a ticket. When you buy a ticket you have the option to donate towards the cost of a stranger’s ticket. You won’t know who you’ve helped, but your donation will go directly to allowing someone else to access this great event.
If you’d like to request one or two free tickets, please let us know. If we can offer you a seat, we’ll notify you by email.
Spring Bay Mill
Spring Bay Mill is a sustainable events venue on the east coast of lutruwita/Tasmania. Garden-to-plate goodness, modern facilities, award-winning accommodation and an intricate landscape yield to a backdrop like no other for events that are both intimate and spectacular.
Accessibility
Everyone enters key spaces via gentle ramps and wide doors. Fully wheelchair accessible accommodation is available in the Ridge Quarters. Note the site is large and some areas require a walk over uneven surfaces. With advance notice, we can offer any of our guests with mobility needs the option to be escorted around the site in our electric shuttle bus ‘The Volts Wagon.’ Please contact us in advance if you have any accessibility concerns or questions. Please note, as a Dark Sky Event, we will be using minimal lighting at night. We recommend bringing a red torch to assist with moving around the site. For particular accessibility concerns please contact [email protected]
Address
555 Freestone Point Rd, Triabunna TAS 7190
Phone Number
(03) 6130 3007
Website