This October, Jasper – Canada's base of adventure – invites visitors to power down and look up with world-renowned scientist and educator, Bill Nye at the 2016 Dark Sky Festival presented by Rocky Mountaineer.

Running October 14th – 23rd, this year's Jasper Dark Sky Festival will feature two separate days with Bill Nye: an adults-only engagement and VIP event on Friday, October 14th and a family-friendly afternoon on Saturday, October 15th.

Nye, best known for his popular educational program, “Bill Nye the Science Guy”, has remained a fixture in the scientific community since his days as television's favourite teacher. A scientist, engineer, comedian, author and inventor, Nye works to foster a scientifically literate society and help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Among a variety of other endeavors, he is also the CEO of the Planetary Society, making him a perfect fit for the Jasper Dark Sky festival.

Coming into its 6th year, the Jasper Dark Sky Festival was created to help celebrate the Dark Sky Preserve designation that Jasper National Park received in 2011 by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Since that time, the festival has come to span two weekends packed with events, speakers and activities that promote science, space and conservation.

Also joining the festival's line-up this year will be Canadian astronaut LCol Jeremy R. Hansen. Having completed his Astronaut Candidate Training in 2011, LCol Hansen currently works as Capcom, providing the voice between the ground and the International Space Station at NASA's Mission Control.

Other events taking place during the festival include SPACEtalks, “Symphony Under the Stars” with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the annual “Beyond the Stars” stargazing event at Lake Annette, a public astronomy event held by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and the Big Bang Expo Presented by Telus World of Science Edmonton. Many other events and speakers will be announced over the coming months.

Tickets go on sale Monday, July 4th, with a special pre-sale available on July 1st for subscribers of the Tourism Jasper Field Notes e-newsletter. To sign up or for more information, please visit http://jasperdarksky.travel.