A festival west of Edmonton will boldly go where no festival has gone before this fall when it welcomes Star Trek legend George Takei.
Best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek, Takei will speak at the Jasper Dark Sky Festival in October.
More recently, Takei has become well known for his increasing popularity on social media, where he’s become an advocate for several issues including LGBTQ rights and marriage equality.
WATCH: George Takei on musical theatre, marriage and Howard Stern
Now in its sixth year, the Jasper Dark Sky Festival celebrates the wonder of one of the world’s largest dark sky preserves, an area kept free of artificial light pollution. Jasper received dark sky preserve designation in 2011.
As daylight hours begin to recede, October is the ideal time to celebrate the skies, according to the festival. Over the past few years, the festival has grown into a celebration over the course of two weekends during dark sky month, including speakers and activities that promote science, space and conservation.
READ MORE: Where you can go to see the stars this summer
Other notable speakers at this year’s festival include scientist Bill Nye, best known for his educational television program Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Nye will present two shows – one on Friday, Oct. 14 and another on Saturday, Oct. 15. Hanson will speak on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Centennial Field.
READ MORE: William Shatner explores relationship with ‘Star Trek’ co-star Leonard Nimoy in new book
Takei will speak at the Jasper Dark Sky Festival on Friday, Oct. 21.
Tickets for the festival go on sale on Monday, July 4. For more information visit the Jasper Dark Sky Festival’s website.
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