10 Great Places to See Science in the Works
Science festivals started in England in the 1990s.
Oct. 8, 2011— -- What do zombie fashion shows, crime lab tours and Rubik's cube contests have in common? You'll find them all at a science festival. These events function in the same way art and food festivals do - through public demonstrations and activities, most of them free. Science festivals started in England in the 1990s, says Ben Wiehe, manager of the Science Festival Alliance. "Each one is a tremendous amount of fun." He shares some favorites with LarryBleiberg for USA TODAY.
Cambridge Science Festival
Massachusetts
Cambridge is home to Harvard and MIT, so this celebration can draw on a lot of talent. It includes more than 200 activities in its nine-day run April 21-29. Events in restaurants, grocery stores and bars include the science of the perfect steak, for instance. A "Lunch with a Laureate" series lets you bring a brown bag to a casual discussion with a Nobel Prize winner. cambridgesciencefestival.org
USA Science and Engineering Festival
Washington, D.C.
This festival, which will fill the Washington, D.C. Convention Center with hundreds of hands-on science activities and demonstrations April 28-29, attracted more than 650,000 visitors last year. It will include appearances by MythBusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. "There's more than you can see in a single day," Wiehe says. 760-846-3473; usasciencefestival.org
Colorado Springs Cool Science Festival
Colorado
This former one-day celebration has extended to more than a week, and runs Oct. 15-22. Highlights include crime lab tours, a beer science event and visits to high-tech labs in the area. "It has expanded to become a real festival," Wiehe says. csscp.org/csfest/
Las Vegas Science Festival
From a Rubik's cube competition to nature walks in the southern Nevada wilderness, this festival, running April 29 to May 5, aims to show that there's more to Vegas than the Strip. Last year, events tackled such meaty topics as global warming and the relationship between science and religion. lasvegassciencefestival.com
Philadelphia Science Festival
This celebration made national news last year when it arranged for a robot to throw out the first pitch at a Phillies baseball game. But that was just the start. The festival, April 20- 29, included star-gazing in dozens of neighborhoods and its own craft-brewed beer served at events around town. "It instantly was a world-class science festival," Wiehe says. 215-448-2366; philasciencefestival.org
North Carolina Science Festival
Statewide
This April 13-19 festival stretches from the Blue Ridge to the Outer Banks, spanning the state. Events this year include "The Truth about 2012" in Elizabeth City, which examines the Mayan prophesy regarding the end of the world, and a 24-hour celebration marking the opening of the Nature Research Center, part of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. Last year featured a weather balloon launch and nature walks. 919-843-8329; ncsciencefestival.org
Bay Area Science Festival
California
Halloween offers an excuse for a zombie lecture and fashion show at this big regional festival Oct. 29- Nov. 6. Wiehe says while the animated corpses are fictional, they're a good way to learn about contagions and neurological diseases. Other festival highlights include a science pub crawl around the Mission District with nerd speed dating and cocktail science. 415-502-6324; bayareascience.org
San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering
California
This eight-day festival, March 17-24, is book-ended by two huge events. It kicks off with family-friendly activities throughout Balboa Park. And it ends with 150 displays and demonstration booths at Petco Park, the downtown baseball stadium. The expo attracted 20,000 visitors last year. "It's amazing to see the huge variety of science going on in San Diego," Wiehe says. 858-822-4470; sdsciencefestival.com
World Science Festival
New York
New York draws on celebrities and entertainers to help promote science. "They're the kind of events where a physicist and a movie star might show up on the same stage and the physicist gets a standing ovation," Wiehe says. One session last year had performer Bobby McFerrin leading the audience in song while a neuroscientist explained what was happening at a cognitive level. The festival runs over Memorial Day weekend next year, May 30- June 3. 212-348-1400; worldsciencefestival.com
Seattle Science Festival
Timed to the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World's Fair, this new festival, which runs June 2-10, will start with a bash at the base of the Space Needle, and then fan out through the region with events featuring the area's science and technology luminaries. 206-269-2145; seattlesciencefestival.org