Astronomy Festival on the National Mall

Sat Sep 20, 2025
6:00pm to 11:00pm ET
Age: All Ages
Price: Free
Location:
National Mall
7th to 9th St SW , Washington , DC,
Invite a friend Website

Hofstra University’s Astronomy Festival on the National Mall in Washington, DC, offers visitors a free guided tour of the sky. The event features solar, optical, and radio telescope observations; hands-on activities, demonstrations, handouts, posters, banners, and videos; speakers from scientific and educational organizations; and a chance to mingle with astronomers.

Starting at 6pm, visitors may view sunspots with the help of specially filtered telescopes. After dusk and through 11pm, telescopes provide close-up views of colorful double stars, remnants of dying stars, nebula, and star clusters that sparkle like diamonds on black velvet.

The rain location is the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building at 900 Jefferson Drive, SW. Updates and alerts are available at: hofstra.edu/dcstars.

The Astronomy Festival is part of Smithsonian Solstice Saturday.

** Activity dates/times are subject to change. Please click through to the activity website to verify.