PARKS FESTIVAL 2011

Post by **weixing** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 8:35 pm

"PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIONAL PARKS BOARD – PARKS FESTIVAL 2011

On behalf of NParks, I am writing to you for a partnership opportunity with SingAstro to realise our inaugural Parks Festival.

Singapore may be smaller than some international cities alone, but an astonishing number of parks – more than 300 – thrive in this city state. To celebrate this diversity, the National Parks Board (NParks) will this launch the inaugural Parks Festival later this year.

>From the 17th to 25th of September 2011, the Parks Festival will showcase our parks as the ‘Preferred Place to Play’. Its objective is simple: Encourage people to enjoy our parks and appreciate the importance of green spaces, and publicize the diversity of experiences available in our parks.

To achieve this, the nine-day carnival will reach out to thousands of outdoor lovers, soon-to-be outdoor lovers and the international community. A series of events will excite the island, creating a platform for park visitors to share and exchange personal experiences. Internationally, the festival will join the global appreciation of green spaces by launching on World Parks Day on 17th September.

Invitation

The vibrant nine-day line-up offers people both day-to-day activities and marquee events. Activities such as Taichi and guided walks, already popular here, will attract the larger public. Stepping it up, pulses will literally quicken with The Park Connector Challenge Cup and a ‘Water Carnival’ in Bedok Reservoir Park.

We invite your interest group to join hands with us for this festival by organizing any astronomy activities or workshops at our parks, where they can be opened to your members, or to the public to help instil in them an interest and curiosity in astronomy, or to both! During the Parks Festival, all official participants will even receive free refreshments and souvenirs.

Do contact us to see how else you can be involved in this truly playful outreach opportunity.

Thank you, and have a nice day!"

Hi,
Received the above invitation email from NPark a few days ago. I checked the calendar, the 17th Sep 2011 (Waning gibbous Moon 78%) and 24th Sep 2011 (Waning crescent Moon 12.4%) are both Saturday. We can select one of the Saturday or may be we can even have 2 session on each Saturday in 2 different parks?

Anyway, I already express our interest to NPark since it's a good oppunity for reaching out to the public, but before we look into details with NPark, I need to check who will be free during the above 2 Saturday and interested to attend or help out for the event? I know it's a bit early to confirm, but need to have an indication of how many members will be interested. Please post your name and equipment (if any) here.

1) Weixing (Vixen R200SS 8" F4 on Vixen GPD GEM)

Have a nice day.

Post by **rcj** » Tue Feb 15, 2011 8:49 pm

don mind volunteering depending on park location, assuming not overseas during that period. Scope wise either 5in refractor, or 8in cass, unless a big dob drops on my lap....

Post by **weixing** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:34 am

Hi,
Just an update.

Currently, we were looking at East Coast Park and Punggol Park for the event.

Anyone been to Punggol Park?? How's the area??

Have a nice day.

rlow · Post by **rlow** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 10:05 am

I am working at Punggol Park (:

It's not entirely completed yet, but I reckon that there's good potential to hold this event there later this year. Your Npark guy is also involved in this project so, like me, he probably already have one or two spots in mind.

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 10:20 am

There's 2 possible "Punggol parks". One is the punggol waterfront development spanning the entire northern sector of Punggol 21. The other is a large pond/vegetation area located in Sengkang beside Upper Serangoon Rd. That place has lots of trees and mosquitoes.
The other Punggol park is a nice place to be since the northern skies are much darker.
I'm not sure how bright it will be. Currently with only 1 in 2 or 1 in 3 lights on at the Punggol riverfront boardwalk its quite dark (and very nice)
Generally side of the punggol river you should have a nice view north, east and south (east-south obstructed to about 10-20deg by Lor. Halus hill). West overlooks HDB flats in Punggol, probably obstructed till at least 30-40deg
Unfortunately the lights they do have there are downward pointing, super bright arc lamps.
Hopefully they never turn on ALL the lights. Currently in the partially lit state its a very nice twilight on the riverfront. Even overhead people commenting how bright and clear the stars seem to be from there instead of their houses.

rlow · Post by **rlow** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 10:51 am

Yes, I am talking about Waterfront@Punggol, which is a 4.2m long "river" that cuts across northern Punggol from east to west, with riverfront boardwalk and park facilities on both sides.

Post by **acc** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:05 pm

We can request NParks to turn off the lights but the key downside is its location. Will do a recce of this place. Anyway, we hope to have more singastroians volunteer to bring scopes for this event. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

kensou · Post by **kensou** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 6:55 pm

if organiser dun mind cheap scope ;p

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 7:08 pm

I'm sure any scope is welcome

Just as long as it can see things!

Post by **acc** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 8:11 pm

Heh of course any scope is welcomed.