Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride is not afraid of the dark.

This year at Mountainfilm (a film festival celebrating the culture of the outdoors) they’re trying an experiment.

Late at night on Saturday, they’re shutting off all the lights. Going completely dark. For an hour during the middle of the night, they’re shutting off porchlights, streetlights, store lights.

Why? So everyone can enjoy the night sky, the stars and the views of the Milky Way Galaxy.

It seems as if we’ve essentially lost our connection with the night sky—lights guide us everywhere, even driving down the highway at night in a vehicle, and we have come to depend on this artificial system. “We have conquered the night,” writes photographer Ben Canales on the website.

But what have we lost? Maybe some of that awe inspired by the planets, suns, galaxies, and nebula which we once used to navigate and find our way.

So Ben Canales and Mountainfilm are asking everyone at the festival, photographers and anyone interested, to join them on the steps of the county courthouse in Telluride at 3 a.m. on May 24 and see what we’ve been missing.