Calling all budding scientists and self identified nerds. It is time to geek out with the return of one of the most exciting festivals of the year, the World Science Festival Brisbane. To be fair, you don’t need to be science obsessed to love this festival. Whether your family is into space exploration or everything volcanoes, the World Science Festival Brisbane has something for everyone with more than 50 events and 175 sessions to choose from.
The mission of World Science Festival Brisbane is to help create a general public informed by science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future. So families, you are exactly who the festival is for!
When is the World Science Festival Brisbane?
From Friday 15 to Sunday 24 March 2024 this extraordinary event, hosted by Queensland Museum will feature a mix of free and ticketed events, family-friendly activities, talks, debates, and conversations that will illuminate the wonders of science.
What is on for families at World Science Festival Brisbane?
The 2024 World Science Festival Brisbane program embraces the theme of Thinkers and Dreamers as it delves into vast realms of knowledge and pushes the boundaries of our understanding to reveal the impact of science, whether it’s transforming medicine, technology, or our understanding of the natural world.
There is plenty of engaging, hands-on activities perfect for the entire family planned. Let us walk you through our top picks for families at the 2024 World Science Festival Brisbane.
City of Science
City of Science is back at South Bank, offering a weekend packed with engaging, hands-on activities perfect for the entire family. Join innovators, creators and science communicators as they present an extensive program that spans an array of captivating subjects, including environmental science, geoscience, biology and technology.
Witness explosive presentations on the Webuild – Building the Future Stage and explore interactive displays that will leave kids and science enthusiasts of all ages awestruck. With fun and education seamlessly blended, City of Science is the ideal occasion for families to immerse themselves in the world of science while creating unforgettable memories.
- Date: 23 – 24 March 2024, 8:30am – 4:00pm
- Cost: Free, non-ticketed event
- Where: South Bank Parklands, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Robowars
A battle of skill, design, tactic, intelligence and raw robot power, watch as custom-built robots clash in a series of electrifying battles. Australia’s top fighting robots come together in a series of clashes that puts mate against mate, state against state and robot against robot. Join bot builders from across the country as they put their creations to the test in a no-holds-barred battle for supremacy. Don’t miss getting tickets to this fast-paced, dynamic event!
- Date: 23 – 24 March 2024, 10:00am – 3:00pm (sessions run for 60 mins)
- Where: South Bank Piazza, South Bank Parklands
- Cost: $20 (adult) and $15 (concession)
- Bookings essential at the World Science Festival Brisbane website.
Turtle Hatchery
World Science Festival Brisbane’s hugely popular annual turtle hatching offers a rare opportunity to witness nature at its finest, while learning about a real-world conservation initiative that has been crucial to the survival of Australia’s precious Loggerhead turtles. We love that you can get a rare glimpse of turtles hatching in incubation chambers and their first foray into an ocean environment in specially designed seawater tanks. When we visited it was a huge privilege to see the sweetest baby turtles hatch in incubation chambers and witness their first foray into an ocean environment in specially designed seawater tanks. It truly is an experience that will give you goosebumps, so be quick and book. This World Science Festival Brisbane event always sells out fast!
- Date: 20 – 24 March 2024, 10:30am – 4:00pm
- Cost: Free, bookings required
- Where: Level 4, Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Quick! Book your visit to the Turtle Hatchery.
Fossils! Queensland’s quirkiest creatures
Explore the Queensland Museum’s extensive and priceless fossil collection to uncover some of Queensland’s most intriguing extinct creatures. Hear thrilling stories about the animals that once roamed our planet as well as see a fossil jacket prepared in real time. Queensland’s quirky creatures won’t stay hidden for long as the World Science Festival Brisbane scientific experts interrogate the fossils they left behind. Don’t miss this chance to be a part of an unforgettable adventure into the world of palaeontology!
- Date: 21 March 2024
- Suitable for children ages 5-12. The 10:00am session is suitable for children aged 5-8 years and the 1:00pm session is suitable for children aged 9-12 years
- Cost: $10 per person
- Where: Playhouse, QPAC, Corner Grey and Melbourne Streets, South Brisbane
- Book your tickets at the World Science Festival Brisbane website.
Science take-over: State Library of Queensland
Calling all budding scientists from babies through to eight year olds! Join the State Library of Queensland team in The Corner to play with light and experiment with physics. Drop in anytime or join a session at 10am and 1pm for Science Story Time. Presented in collaboration with Children’s Discovery Museum, experts in play-based science.
- Date: 16 – 17 March 2024 from 10:00am – 3:00pm
- Where: The Corner, State Library of Queensland
- Cost: Free, drop in, no booking required
Art/Science Program
The 2024 Art/Science program is the evolution of the popular Curiocity Brisbane program and features artworks on a larger, engaging scale, with links into Visual Arts, STEM, Science and Digital Technology.
ADA
ADA is an enormous floating orb and interactive sculpture that you can pull, push and move within the white room she inhabits. The artwork engages us in one of the most primal forms of communication – mark making. Materially, ADA is appears to be a sphere of plastic, gas and black charcoal sticks. However, as a kinetic sculpture, she moves around and marks the walls, floor and ceiling that encase it. We think the kids are going to love this interactive experience at World Science Festival Brisbane 2024!
- Date: 15 – 24 March, 2024 from 8:30am – 9:30pm
- Where: Cultural Forecourt, South Bank
- Cost: Adults $10 | Concession $7.50 | Family (2 adults & 2 children) $30
- Book your visit to see ADA here.
Drawing on Complexity: Experiment 9
In this World Science Festival Brisbane experiment, children can become an ‘agent’ and participate in developing a drawing system by applying colourful tape across 3D surfaces. All agents must first learn a simple algorithm before they may contribute freely. The appearance of the work will change over time, and as more and more agents contribute, patterns will appear. Drawing on Complexity: Experiment 9 is a super cool collaborative drawing model, which uses people instead of computer programming. Families Tip: Participants must be 8 years or older to qualify as an autonomous agent. Younger participants must work with an adult to ensure the integrity of the drawing system.
- Date: Fri 15 March, 2024 – Sun 24 March, 2024, 9:00 am – 6:30 pm
- Where: Cultural Forecourt, South Bank
Ghost Nets of Pormpuraaw | Weave your own ghost net workshop
For a decade, the Pormpuraaw artist community has deftly crafted stunning sculptures out of salvaged fishing waste from the Gulf of Carpentaria. Fishing line, nets and floats – known as ‘ghost nets’ -travel thousands of kilometres across international waters and threaten ocean ecologies by indiscriminately tangling marine life. Children can create their own Ghost Net sculpture with artists from the world-renowned Pormpuraaw Art and Culture Centre. Expert Ghost Net artists will teach families how to form a metal armature and decorate it with woven nets and other found materials to create a beautiful creature of your own.
- Date: 16 – 17 March 2024, 10:00am and 2:30pm sessions available
- Where: Level 2, Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Book your tickets at the World Science Festival Brisbane website.
What is your family looking forward to seeing at World Science Festival Brisbane?
This is only a small teaser of the many amazing events and activities on the program for World Science Festival Brisbane. We hope we have inspired you to get involved with this years festival and to get your kids involved in the wonders of STEM. We would love to hear what you are most looking forward to seeing this year in the comments!
