See the stars in your own street. It might sound like a fairytale, but the Dutch city of Leiden achieved this by switching off its lights.

Watch the movie premiere of SEEING STARS Leiden in which a city is transformed to create a new sense of community. It was so mysterious to walk with so many people in a dark city and see the stars, as part of the Leiden European City of Science 2022. In a time of energy crisis, SEEING STARS Leiden shows the beauty of less.

"Last night the city of Leiden was a remarkable experiment: SEEING STARS Leiden. In the wide vicinity of the Leiden Observatory, all the lights were turned off by thousands of citizens. Although it was cloudy, we suddenly saw Saturn and other stars in the historical streets of Leiden. It was so mysterious to walk with so many people in a dark city. I felt like an astronaut on Earth.” - Daan Roosegaarde

It’s official: The city of Leiden will switch off its city lights on September 25 between 22.00 till 23.30 to see the stars together. Lights off, stars on. All citizens of Leiden are encouraged to participate. SEEING STARS Leiden is accompanied with a cultural and citizen science program as part of the Leiden European City of Science 2022.

SEEING STARS Leiden is in one of the most light polluted areas in the world. More than 80% of the world’s population lives under light-polluted skies; a barrier preventing us from experiencing the beauty of the universe.

The mayor of Leiden has confirmed the collaboration with Studio Roosegaarde to realise SEEING STARS as part of the Leiden European City of Science 2022.

SEEING STARS switches off the city lights to bring back the stars to your own street, as you can see here in Franeker NL in collaboration with UNESCO. Thank you Beau RTL TV, El Pais, Fastcompany, Designboom, Elle, La Repubblica, De Volkskrant and millions of people in sharing the story of SEEING STARS.

Two million people watched the TV interview with Daan Roosegaarde at Beau about SEEING STARS.

SEEING STARS is our new collaboration with UNESCO and the city of Franeker to bring back the stars in your own street.

“I am so proud to switch off all the lights in our city, to see the stars and feel connected with each other.” - Marga Waanders, mayor of Franeker in SEEING STARS.