Moon Celebration: Exploring Our Celestial Neighbour
Sat 4 Oct | 2.30pm–9.30pm
Tickets: £30 (Moon gazing and poetry), Choir performance: Free
Grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, King William Walk, Greenwich, London, SE10 9NN
Our neighbours at the Royal Observatory Greenwich are celebrating their 350th anniversary in 2025. Join us during Space Week and International Observe the Moon Night (a NASA-led initiative) to celebrate the work of astronomers past and present, and the achievements that continue to shape our understanding of the cosmos. Explore how people connect to the Moon, and take part in a unique lunar celebration that blends science, art, music, and poetry.
Celestial Harmonies
Time: 2.30pm–3.30pm & 4pm-5pm
Location: Chapel of St Peter and St Paul
Enjoy a special performance by The Gloriana Choir, featuring a selected repertoire inspired by the Moon and the night sky. Their performances will take place in the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul during the afternoon, offering moments of musical reflection and wonder.
Founded in 2016, this all-female choir is led by Director Deborah Miles-Johnson, a singer with the Royal Opera House and former member of the BBC Singers. The choir’s many performances have included appearances at Rothschild & Co’s Sky Pavilion and for Classic FM.
Free but you must book a place
Celestial Reflections: An Evening of Poetry and Moon Gazing
Time: 7pm–9.30pm
Location: Painted Hall and the Upper Lawns of the Old Royal Naval College
Join us for an exciting, interactive poetry performance inspired by the Moon and the cosmos, featuring celebrated poets Dom Conlon, Kate Wakeling, and A.F. Harrold, each bringing their own unique voice and perspective to our closest celestial neighbour.
The evening includes two sets of performances with a break in between, giving you the chance to observe the Moon through telescopes with the expert guidance of the Flamsteed Astronomy Society and astronomers from the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Whether skies are clear or cloudy, they will be on hand to answer your questions and share tips on observing the night sky.
Tickets on sale soon.
Meet the poets
Dom Conlon
Dom Conlon is an award-winning poet and author whose work often examines themes of family, disability, hope, and loss through a lens of space and nature. His books have multiple nominations for the Carnegie and the Greenaway medals, and include the non-fiction Meet Matilda series, and poetry such as This Rock That Rock, Out There in the Wild, and the Wild Wanderers picture book series. His work has been praised by Chris Riddell, Brian Bilston, Nicola Davies, Robin Ince and the European Space Agency. Dom is a UNESCO World Poetry Day poet, and he’s written for Macmillan Children's Books, Ladybird, Puffin, and the BBC.
Kate Wakeling
Described by The Guardian as ‘a poet to watch, her work an April rainbow of freshness and surprise,’ Kate Wakeling writes for both adults and children. A pamphlet of Kate’s poetry for adults, The Rainbow Faults, is published by The Rialto and her work has featured on BBC Radio 3 and been highly commended in the Forward Prizes.
Kate has published three collections of poetry for children – Moon Juice and Cloud Soup with The Emma Press, and A Dinosaur at the Bus Stop (for younger readers) with Otter-Barry Books. Her poetry for children has been awarded the CLiPPA prize, The Week Junior ‘Book of the Year’ award for poetry and been nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Kate is writer-in-residence with Aurora Orchestra and writes for BBC Music Magazine.
A. F. Harrold
A.F. Harrold is a poet and performer who has written for both adults and children. His children’s novels are published by Bloomsbury and include The Imaginary which is now a Japanese animated movie on Netflix. His poetry collections and anthologies include the Pocket Book of Pocket Poems, the Book of Not Entirely Useful Advice and Midnight Feasts. He was once Glastonbury Festival’s Poet-in-Residence, but mostly isn’t.