The Nebraska Science Festival finished another year with a month of science fun on April 30.
The month-long celebration of science, which featured 75 events in 11 different Nebraska cities, drew 750 attendees to the free public science expo alone, with other events pushing the total attendance for the festival to approximately 7,500-plus.
In addition to the expo, the festival events included:
- Wildlife & Whiskey;
- Science Sundays at the Riverfront;
- “Meet An Astronaut Day” at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum;
- Keynote speaker, Ken Jennings;
- Viewing The Lyrid Meteor Shower at Branched Oak Observatory;
- Walk to the Moon Challenge;
- STEAM Night at Kennedy Elementary School;
- “Ask a Meteorologist” with KETV’s Caitlin Harvey;
- Legos at the Library; and
- A statewide art contest.
“It was wonderful to be able to meet face to face once more with Science Festival attendees,” said SciFest coordinator Kacie Baum, senior manager for events and community engagement, UNMC Strategic Communications. “We were excited to bring back old favorites like the expo, and the public really enjoyed some of our new events. It’s great to see the community excited about science.”
The Nebraska Science Festival began in 2013 as an initiative of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which continues to administer the festival with the assistance of a number of organizations and individuals interested in the advancement of science literacy.
The Science Festival is designed to make science accessible, interactive, relevant and fun for kids and adults alike. In addition to UNMC, other 2023 sponsors included Boys Town, Metro Credit Union, Streck and media sponsor KETV.
Planning already is underway for the 2024 Festival, which will run April 1-30.