Success for Warminster moon launch as town celebrates all things space

Warminster has celebrated a spectacular two weeks of space-themed events, as the impressive 3D moon installation at St Denys’ Church marked a successful centrepiece of this year’s StarFest.

‘StarFest: The Moon at the Minster’ saw the illuminated 4.5-metre moon suspended inside the historic church, creating a stunning backdrop for a variety of events including children’s storytime sessions, school visits, and performances by the Warminster Philharmonic Orchestra and the Warminster Military Wives Choir.

The exhibition formed part of StarFest, Warminster’s contribution to Cranborne Chase National Landscape’s annual festival, which encourages residents and visitors to look to the skies with a range of astronomy-themed activities.

As part of the event, a free StarQuest town trail encouraged people to find 10 constellations across the town. The trail was won by Hania, 9, who was very excited to win a telescope, Sylvan who won a space projector and Lewis who won an astronaut space game.

A Warminster Town Council spokesperson said, “StarFest was a spectacular and successful event for the whole community. StarFest: The Moon at the Minster was incredibly impressive and attracted thousands of visitors.

“The StarQuest trail was a huge success, with Warminster families embracing the challenge and exploring the town, alongside many other events held across the town and in Sutton Veny.”

The events in Sutton Veny were run by the StarQuest Astronomy Club, which meets at Sutton Veny Village Hall at 7pm on the second Thursday of every month from January to May, and then again between September and December.

In conjunction with StarFest, the club put on its own AstroFest 2025, which featured talks from Paul Hill, space ambassador for the European Space Education Resource Office, and Bud Martin Budzynski, an amateur astronomer, telescope maker, musician and entertainer.

A sold-out Planetarium and Open Evening was also popular, with a large number of visitors attending Sutton Veny Village Hall to enjoy presentations by astronomy club members.

Warminster Town Councillor Liz Lee, who is also secretary of the StarQuest Astronomy Club, said, “The event was really well received by the public, and our club members were keen to put this on as an annual event. This was the first time we’ve done something on this scale, but we were really encouraged by the interest shown by everyone, and it has brought a few new members to the club.

“We finished our AstroFest on Saturday 29th March in Warminster Town Park with a live viewing of the partial solar eclipse, where club members used solar telescopes and other safe viewing methods to show the public this spectacular event. Again, it was well attended, and there was a lot of interest from people who visited the park to take part.”

For more information about the StarQuest Astronomy Club, call Peter Lee on 01985 840093.

Pictured: The Warminster Military Wives put on a special performance beneath the moon in St Denys’ Church