If you haven’t snagged a ticket yet to see Bill Nye speak during the Jasper Dark Sky Festival, then you better get a move on because tickets are nearly sold out.
This year’s festival, which runs from October 14-23, will feature two separate days with Nye, best known for his popular television program “Bill Nye the Science Guy.”
Individual tickets to both his shows on Oct. 14 and 15 are already sold out, but according to Myriam Bolduc of Tourism Jasper, people can still reserve a spot by buying a $80 package, which also includes a ticket to a talk by astronaut Jeremy Hansen with the Canadian Space Agency on October 15.
“We’re really thrilled but not surprised by the overwhelming interest we’ve seen for Bill Nye,” Bolduc said. “That’s why we wanted to have two shows with him. We knew that if there was only one show then it would sell out really quickly.
“By offering two shows we’re making sure that not only our visitors but also our locals get the chance to see him.”
According to Bolduc, Tourism Jasper expects 1,000 people to attend the first show and another 2,200 people for the second show on Oct. 15.
Nye isn’t the festival’s only headliner to start selling out.
Star Trek star George Takei will also be participating in this year’s festival and is slated to take part in three different events on October 21 and 22. The first event—a meet and greet with the star—also sold out a few weeks after tickets went on sale.
“This is the first year that we’ve really expanded into two core weekends,” Bolduc said. “Last year we really just focused on having one great weekend with great speakers, but this year—because of the amount of great speakers—we were able to extend into those two core weekends, which will bring even more tourists into town during the shoulder season.”
Other events taking place during the festival include various space talks, “Symphony Under the Stars” with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the annual Beyond the Stars stargazing event at Lake Annette, and the Big Bang Expo.
And that’s not all—Bolduc said Tourism Jasper will be announcing other events for the festival over the coming months.
“It’s not just us at Tourism Jasper,” Bolduc said. “We’ve got so many great community and business partners taking part in this year’s festival and they’ll also be announcing some things as we get closer to the festival.”
According to Tourism Jasper, both of last year’s headlining events—The Sky is Not the Limit with Chris Hadfield and A Night of Mythbusting and Science with former members of the Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters—were sold out with 1,300 people in attendance for each show.
In 2011, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada designated Jasper as a Dark Sky Preserve. The Jasper Dark Sky Festival began six years ago with the goal of celebrating and preserving this status. At 11,000 square kms, Jasper National Park is considered the world’s second largest accessible dark sky preserve.
“The event is to educate people all about science and the environment while making sure they have fun at the same time,” Bolduc said. “We’re hoping to see visitors from all over Canada and the United States.”
Tickets for the festival can purchased at .
Kayla Byrne
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