Events & Expos

Science Festival lines up 102 events in July

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Science is to be back in the spotlight, with 102 events planned for the New Zealand International Science Festival in July.

Festival director Dan Hendra and his team were excited to take delivery of 25,000 copies of the programme at science festival HQ last week, ready for distribution.

A further 38,000 copies will be delivered to Dunedin households with next week’s edition of The Star, June 3.

“We are launching the programme five weeks out from the science festival this year, and will be having targeted campaigns across the country in the hopes of attracting more visitors from out of town,” Mr Hendra said.

“Dunedin is unique in New Zealand is hosting the science festival, and we are perfectly placed to do so — we have so many wonderful scientists here in the city and great connections to the University of Otago,” Mr Hendra said.

Running from July 8 to 18, across the school holidays, the NZ International Science Festival is packed with fun and educational events for children, including the Big Science! Show, Imagination Playground, busy programmes at the Dunedin Public Libraries, Otago Museum, Marine Studies Centre, Meridian and Golden Centre malls, and Orokonui Ecosanctuary, and a Virtual Reality & Gaming centre.

The always popular University of Otago Science Expo will be held across two days on July 10 and 11.

Mr Hendra said it was important to the festival team to ensure the children’s events were accessible to all, and so they had fundraised for the past year to keep entry prices to $5 and under, or free.

The festival will also feature a Grown-Up Programme, including talks, films, dining experiences, and workshops.

“We wanted to make the grown-up series a feature, so it has its own pull-out section of the programme,” Mr Hendra said.

A key event of the adult programme will be the opening night “Science in the Spotlight” event, to be held on July 8, from 5.30pm, at the Otago Business School.

The event will be a fireside chat between science festival patron Helen Anderson, the Prime Minister’s chief science adviser Dame Juliet Gerrard, and the Climate Change Commission chairman Rod Carr.

A major highlight of the science festival will be the “Our Moon — Then, Now and Beyond” exhibition, created by British artist Luke Jerram.

The 4m moon scale model, along with science displays and activities, will be hosted at Hanover Hall from July 13-18.

“The moon will be huge and spectacular, and it will be surrounded by some fantastic events.”

Dunedin Maths Craft Day, on July 18 at Dunedin Town Hall, will give people the chance to experience maths through crafts, such as crochet and origami. The event will feature a craft creation station and public talks from mathematicians.

The 102 events in the festival will be spread across 34 venues in Dunedin, many of them in the inner city.

“This will enable us to set up a science trail from the Octagon to Otago Museum, so families will be able to walk to eight spaces and events in that area,” Mr Hendra said.

brenda.harwood@thestar.co.nz

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