The Festival is excited to present Our Moon: Then Now and Beyond, an installation artwork by British artist Luke Jerram. The work, a 4m diameter inflatable sphere with a hi-resolution NASA photograph of our Moon will be suspended inside Hanover Hall for the second half of the Festival. The Moon will play host to a number of other events, such as yoga, the Space Frontiers Exhibition, storytime for children, and much more.
Bang! Science Show!, written by award-winning comedian and playwright Abby Howells will take place during the second weekend of the Festival at the Teachers College Auditorium. Expect bangs, pops, thrills and spills as you join Dr Frankenstein on her quest to become a supervillain!
The CODE Virtual Reality & Gaming Centre will transport attendees to other worlds. The VR and Gaming Centre has proven extremely popular in the past, offering the public the opportunity to experience the latest in Virtual Reality technology. This time the centre will be located in the old Aotea Gifts shop at 19 George Street, as a part of the Science Festival Trail, a walking trail leading to Festival hubs and venues all within 20 minutes walk of the Octagon.
The Festival is thrilled to present acclaimed songwriter Tiny Ruins performing a very special solo show underneath Luke Jerram's Moon Sculpture. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of her debut album 'Some were meant for Sea', Hollie Fullbrook will play an intimate show directly underneath the massive glowing sculpture, in the ambient setting of Hanover Hall.
On the opening night, the Festival presents n Science in the Spotlight, a fireside chat between Festival patron Helen Anderson, the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor Dame Juliet Gerrard, and the chair of the Climate Change Commission Rod Carr. The panel will discuss the challenges faced by Climate Change, as well as the massive leaps forward that science is currently making and those that science will need to make, in order to tackle our future.
The Festival presents a range of activities at a number of its festival hubs around the city. You'll find a range of great hands-on activities through the festival at the Meridian & Golden Centre Malls, and the backyard building workshops at Mitre 10 Mega. We also had an excellent series of panel discussions and talks taking place at Petridish on Stafford Street. Otago Museum and Orokonui Ecosanctuary also present their own massive programmes for the Festival, from releasing butterflies to getting back in touch with nature.
The Festival is reimagining play with the Imagination Playground, where children can build and engineer their own structures with giant blue building blocks. The Municipal Chambers will play host to Imagination Playground, which will mark the starting point of the Festival's walking trail.
With 3 weeks to go, there is no better time than now to get your head into our full programme and grab your tickets at scifest.org.nz
