College of The Albemarle will present “COA Star Nights: An Evening Under the Stars” on Friday, April 21, 2023, from 7-9 pm on the green space at the Fenwick-Hollowell Wetlands Trail (across from the Performing Arts Center) at COA – Elizabeth City, 1208 N Road Street.  COA Star Nights is an official 2023 North Carolina Science Festival (NCSciFest) event presented by the Biogen Foundation.  This is COA’s second year hosting the event.

“COA Star Nights: An Evening Under the Stars” will be a fun and educational night featuring astronomy and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) activities for all ages.  Take a journey through the night sky with COA’s various telescopes. This event is free and open to the public.

Founded in 2010, the North Carolina Science Festival is the first statewide science festival in the United States. Through a series of community-based events each April (hosted by schools, colleges, libraries, museums, parks, businesses and other local organizations), the Festival celebrates science’s economic, educational, and cultural impact in North Carolina. Since its start, NCSciFest has served more than 3 million participants of all ages from all 100 North Carolina counties.

The 2023 theme for NCSciFest is “Full STEAM Ahead”— a celebration of the “A” in STEAM and the intersection of science and the arts.  As an official 2023 NCSciFest event, COA Star Nights is one of hundreds of community events this April showcasing science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) for people of all ages across North Carolina.

College of The Albemarle is excited to be selected as one of 35 sites across the state to host NCSciFest’s annual “Statewide Star Party,” made possible through the generous support of the NC Space Grant.  Lisa Meads, COA Dean of Arts and Sciences, said, “COA is excited to celebrate STEAM education in our service area.  Our community has always embraced the Arts and STEM, and this is an opportunity to bring these two exciting fields together under the night sky.”

The rain date for this event is Saturday, April 22, 2023, from 7-9 pm.  Please follow the College of The Albemarle’s Facebook page for updates.

The North Carolina Science Festival is presented by the Biogen Foundation and produced by Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For more information, visit www.ncscifest.org.

For information on COA Star Nights, contact Todd Krueger at 252.335.0821 ext. 2323 or [email protected].

For media inquiries and all other College of The Albemarle information, please contact Tammy W. Sawyer, COA Director of Communications and Marketing, at [email protected] or 252.335.0821 ext. 2420.