This year’s festival is packed with the biggest names in science from Australia and across the globe. Festival co-founder Brian Greene returns to explore the realities of the universe in Listening to the Big Bang, while journalists Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb reunite for the ever-popular An Afternoon of Science.
Crowd favourite Dr Karl Kruszelnicki will again delight audiences with his razor-sharp humour and clarity in Dr Karl: Live!, and award-winning journalist Julia Baird steps onto the stage to examine humanity, ethics and the future in Healthy Microbiome, Happy Brain?
Natasha Mitchell leads a lively panel in The Science of Sex, delving into everything from attraction to vibrators and the future of sex, and returns to host Science Smackdown: The Ultimate Debate – an uncensored Saturday night showdown of sharp minds and bold arguments.
Looking beyond Earth, aerospace engineer and National Geographic explorer Tracy Drain shares first-hand insights from NASA’s Mars missions in Blast Off: Exploring Other Worlds!, while Katherine Bennell-Pegg – Australia’s first astronaut and newly named Australian of the Year – takes the stage in Ask an Astronaut?, giving audiences the chance to put their biggest space questions to one of the country’s most celebrated scientific figures.
Forensics: The Science of Blood, Body Bags and Biohazards will dive deep into the gripping world of finger prints and blood drops, while over at the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium LUME turns the night sky into a full-sensory cosmic experience.
Adding an international creative highlight, the festival will also host the Australian premiere of Bat Night Market, a large-scale after-dark experience from Taiwan that blends science, culture and imagination into a vibrant sensory event.
There’s also room to slow things down with Digital Detox birdwatching walks inviting festival-goers to step away from screens, and the Australian Youth Orchestra: Beautiful Equations where maths meets music in a thrilling live performance that breaks down patterns, structures and equations of music.
The festival events will unfold across the city, including Queensland Museum Kurilpa, QPAC, QAGOMA and Fish Lane, with regional events heading to Ipswich, Toowoomba, Chinchilla and Townsville.
