Community group shows can be arranged throughout the day during the week (if there is a slot available as term-time we give priority to education establishments) and most week day evenings from Monday to Thursday.

We welcome any community group who would like to pay us a visit, such as Round Table, Women's Institute, Rotary Club or University of the Third Age. If you are a leader of a uniformed group, such as scouts or brownies please visit our Uniformed group visit page. If you pay us a visit during the day time you may like to also visit the tea rooms at Wynyard Woodland Park and if you come along for an evening show during the observing season (September to April) we will hopefully include some observing through one of our telescopes (weather permitting) as part of your visit. Please note that there are no toilets in the building and once inside it is difficult to leave in the middle of the show and then regain entry, for this reason we recommend a visit to the public toilet block on the park (60 metres away) before the start of a star show.

Charges

The Planetarium & Observatory are a non-profit making service area within the Care for Your Area section of Development and Neighbourhood Services, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. We are a subsidised service area and try to offer our services at a minimum cost to all. Current charges for shows are:

• Adult - £5.00
• Concession (child/student/retired) - £3.00

A child is anyone under 18 years of age and retired is classed as over 60 years old.

This is subject to a minimum booking fee which is currently £50, for groups of less than 17 concessions this minimum fee will apply per activity session, otherwise visits are charged at a price per person. Please note that we oprate a cancellation policy and that by making a booking you agree to abide by the terms and conditions of this policy.

Capacity

Although the planetarium is equiped to seat 72, we rarely use this capacity for star shows (only lectures) for a variety of reasons to do with comfort and noise levels. The maximum we recommend for a star show is in the region of 40, if in doubt about numbers and what we can accommodate please call us to discuss your requirements.