General Information

Conference Registration

A registration fee of $80.00 Cdn (individual rate) or $120.00 Cdn (family rate) is charged to cover the expenses of the conference.  Family registration is defined as two adults in a legally recognized relationship and their dependent children (age 15 and under).  Youths ages 16 - 19 are an additional $40.00 Cdn each.  A registrant's brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, in-laws, or best friends (regardless of age) do not qualify for the family rate.  You are urged to pre-register before July 31st.  After July 31st, and at the gate, the registration fee will be $100.00 Cdn per person or $140.00 Cdn per family and $45.00 Cdn per dependent child (age 16 - 19).  Registration confirmations will be emailed to you (if your email address is included on the registration form).

In addition, there is a camping or entrance fee which is detailed on the registration form and on the online registration page.

(A note to our friends from the United States.  The volatility in foreign exchange rates exposes the NYAA to significant risk.  As such, all prices will be charged in Canadian dollars with the US$ at par.  Your credit card company will convert the charge to US$ for you)

By registering for and participating in Starfest, I acknowledge that, while attending Starfest, photographs or videos of me and or my family members may be captured.  I grant NYAA irrevocable permission to use said photographs or videos for Starfest and NYAA promotional purposes, including posting to public social media sites, without restriction or compensation.  I waive any right to approve usage of any photographs or videos.

Camping

Starfest is meant to be a camping event.  If you are camping you need to complete the camping portion in addition to the registration portion of the Starfest registration form and enclose your payment.  The River Place is a private campground able to accommodate motorhomes, trailers, and tents.  It has a pool, children’s play area, and a building with flush toilets and showers.  Temporary toilets will be scattered strategically around the campground for greater convenience.

Red Lights at Night

In both visual and imaging astronomy, darkness and contrast make all the difference in how much one can see in the eyepiece or pick up on the image sensor.  White light, or any colour of light other than red, can wipe out the view of many of the faint fuzzies that we have all traveled so far to see under dark skies, things that we can never see in the urban environments where most of us live.

On observing nights at Starfest, we need everyone to observe the RED LIGHTS ONLY rule.  This includes light leaking from tents and trailers, flashlights, car lights (including interior lights, and trunk lights), video and computer monitors, anything that diminishes our eyes dark adaptation.  Even overly bright red light accidentally aimed at peoples faces can interfere with dark adaptation.  It can take 20 to 30 minutes for eyes to become dark adapted, but only a few seconds to wipe it out.

We encourage everyone to help us all enjoy the dark skies we have all traveled some distance to enjoy and we appreciate your cooperation/assistance in vigorously enforcing our red light rule.

Electrical Grid

In recent years, the strain on the power grid that we roll out to the fields has become more and more difficult to manage.  Some issues were caused by technical problems with our system, but the majority was caused by mis-use of and overloading of some of our power lines.  The use of computers and other electronic astronomy and imaging equipment has greatly increased the demands placed upon our system.  Unless you are at one of the trailer campsites that includes its own outlets, the use of any equipment other than that used for astronomy is not allowed.  This especially includes electric teapots, heaters, coolers, refrigerators, air conditioners, TVs, incandescent lighting, etc.  We ask that if it is within your means to do so, please rely on your batteries to power your Astronomy gear.  (these can be recharged during the day).  We are implementing the line tagging system as well to keep track of the load on the lines.  We also have purchased an amp meter to measure the loads directly.  Please help us in reducing the load on the grid to the camping fields.

Please note that our NYAA supplied electrical grid will be unavailable after Sunday morning.

Trailer Sites

A limited number of trailer sites are available by advance reservation only, on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Please indicate the size of your trailer and your hookup requirements (water, sewer, electrical) on the registration form, as well as your phone or email address in case we need further details.  Trailer sites will be assigned two weeks prior to Starfest based on the order in which registrations were received.  You will be notified of your site assignment at this time.  Please note that some trailer sites are obstructed by trees.  If you feel your assigned site is not suitable you will be given two options:

  1. Set up your trailer in the general camping area (without hook ups) at a reduced cost
  2. Cancel with our apologies and a full refund.

Paying at the Campsite

We accept cash, Interac Debit, VISA, MasterCard and AMEX.  Please note that there is not an ATM at the park.  All prices quoted are ‘cash discounted’.  A 5% processing fee will be added when payment is made via credit card.

Refunds

Cancellations will be refunded in full if notification is received by July 31st.  If you cancel after July 31st, a partial refund will be issued 6 to 10 weeks after Starfest as follows:

  1. Registration fee less a $25 (or $35 if you ordered promotional items) administration fee;
  2. Camping fee;
  3. Starfest promotional items are non-refundable.  If you ordered Starfest Promotional items they will be mailed to you via parcel post;
  4. If while at Starfest you decide to leave before the end of the conference and are out of the park before 2:00 p.m., the camping fee for that day and any unused days will be refunded at the registration desk when you leave;
  5. If you are a NO SHOW you must request your refund (less administration fee) within 30 days of the end of Starfest.

Privacy

Protecting your privacy has always been a priority of the North York Astronomical Association.  Please be assured that all information about you and your family is kept strictly confidential and is collected, used and only disclosed, where necessary, to facilitate your participation in Starfest.