Daan Roosegaarde's Seeing Stars turns off Franeker's lights to reveal the night sky

Artist Daan Roosegaarde, with support from UNESCO Netherlands, turned off all non-essential lights in the Dutch city of Franeker for one night to allow residents to see the stars. The project, called Seeing Stars, involved collaboration between residents, local government, businesses, UNESCO Netherlands, and Studio Roosegaarde. Household lights, billboards, and non-essential streetlights were switched off to eliminate urban light pollution. The experiment aimed to reconnect people with the universe and revive the magic of starlight. Kathleen Ferrier, president of the Dutch UNESCO Commission, stated that everyone should have the right to see an unpolluted night sky, calling it a common and universal heritage. Roosegaarde noted that people are disconnected from each other and from the nightly light performance above. He plans to bring the project to Leiden, Sydney, Venice, Stockholm, and Reykjavik. About 80% of the world's population lives under light-polluted skies.