Yuri’s Night is a global celebration of humanity’s past, present, and future in space. Yuri’s Night parties and events are held around the world every April in commemoration of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human to venture into space on April 12, 1961, and the inaugural launch of the first Space Shuttle on April 12, 1981.
Yuri’s Night events combine space-themed partying with education and outreach. These events can range from an all-night mix of techno and technology at a NASA Center, to a movie showing and stargazing at your local college, to a gathering of friends at a bar or barbecue.
In 2011, the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight, over 100,000 people attended 567 officially-recognized events in 75 countries on all 7 continents, while tens of thousands more watched the 12-hour live Yuri’s Night Global Webcast and participated online in the virtual world of Second Life.
Since 2001, Yuri’s Night has:
Featured talks and presentations by Ray Bradbury, Will Wright, George Takei, Richard Garriott, Anousheh Ansari, and many others
Been celebrated at the South Pole, Hayden Planetarium, and in orbit on the International Space Station
Planted hundreds of “moon trees” around the world in collaboration with American Forests
Received the “Best Presentation of Space” award from the Space Frontier Foundation
Trained the next generation of space leaders for organizations such as the National Space Society, Virgin Galactic, and Space Florida
Anyone can start a Yuri’s Night event, and it’s completely free. Are you interested? Register an event today →