La Palma to honour Brian May with a star on its Paseo de las Estrellas y la Ciencia

The island of La Palma will pay tribute to musician and astrophysicist Brian May, co-founder of the Starmus festival, by dedicating a star to him on its Paseo de las Estrellas y la Ciencia. The announcement was made on 6 July 2026 at the launch event for the festival's eighth edition, according to various media outlets reporting from a press release issued by the organisation and distributed by the Cabildo de La Palma.

The event was attended by Cabildo president Sergio Rodríguez, Starmus co-founder and director Garik Israelian, and the island's councillors for Culture and Tourism, Miriam Perestelo and Raquel Rebollo, respectively.

The tribute

The centrepiece of La Palma's programme will be the dedication of a star to Brian May on the Paseo de las Estrellas y la Ciencia. According to the Cabildo's statement, the honour recognises "his extraordinary contribution as a musician, astrophysicist, science communicator and co-founder of Starmus". The organisation stressed that "few people have contributed as much to the festival's international identity and its connection with the island" as May.

The star will join those already dedicated to other figures honoured in the same space, including Stephen Hawking, Alekséi Leónov, Takaaki Kajita, Samuel C.C. Ting, Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Jane Goodall.

Festival director Garik Israelian noted that, beyond his musical career, May holds a doctorate focused on the study of dust movement in the zodiacal cloud around the Sun, and that he has a longstanding connection with La Palma through observations carried out at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and the filming of the music video Another World alongside the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), as reported by local outlet El Time.

The same outlet reported that the Cabildo president noted that the recognition comes at a moment when the Paseo de las Estrellas y la Ciencia is set to undergo a transformation process driven by the island institution's Tourism department.

Starmus's bond with the island

In his remarks, Sergio Rodríguez underlined that Starmus and La Palma are inseparable. "Our skies, our observatories, our scientific community and our spirit of exploration inspired a vision that would become a global celebration of science, exploration, music and human creativity," the president said.

According to the statement, over the years the festival has brought to La Palma figures including Stephen Hawking, Neil Armstrong, Alekséi Leónov, Roger Penrose, Joseph Stiglitz, Elizabeth Blackburn, Kip Thorne, Jane Goodall, Jill Tarter, Richard Dawkins and numerous Nobel laureates. In 2025, Starmus returned to the island with a special edition centred on Jane Goodall.

Programme on La Palma

Alongside the unveiling of Brian May's star, the island's programme includes the traditional 108 Minutos event at the Gran Telescopio Canarias — inspired by the 108 minutes of Yuri Gagarin's orbital flight — a public lecture at the Teatro Circo de Marte, and the closing concert Space Station Earth by British composer Ilan Eshkeri.

Starmus VIII, across two islands

Starmus VIII, under the theme "In Search of Truth", will take place from 17 to 22 October 2026 across Tenerife and La Palma, as announced by the organisation on 16 December 2025 at an event in London. The festival is sponsored and supported by the Gobierno de Canarias, the Cabildo de Tenerife and the Cabildo de La Palma.

This edition marks the tenth anniversary of the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication and introduces the new Jane Goodall Earth Medal. According to RTVC, physicist and science communicator Brian Cox will receive the Stephen Hawking Medal, while Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres will be awarded the inaugural Jane Goodall Earth Medal. Confirmed speakers include Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton and artists such as Brian May, Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.