Annual Celebration
Future dates to be announced.
A ten-day event with open houses, hands-on activities, lectures, in-school presentations, hikes, excursions, and more.
The Flagstaff Festival of Science is lead by Northern Arizona University, and is one of the longest running science festivals in the US, having started in 1988.
The festival is often themed for a year, and the 2011 theme is light. Highlights of the 2011 festival include a keynote by NASA astronaut and physicist Dr. John Grunsfeld; Lowell Observatory's celebration of the Discovery Channel Telescope’s First Light; the Museum of Northern Arizona's presentation of Grand Archaeology – Excavation and Discovery along the Colorado River; Flagstaff Medical Center's "Fantastic Voyage;" Northern Arizona University's Mountain Campus Science and Engineering Day; and the U.S. Geological Survey's field trip to the Apollo mission training grounds.
Also in the lineup are star parties at observatories and open houses at research stations. Science-based organizations such as W. L. Gore & Associates will share their discoveries and innovations at Science in the Park and local scientists will offer more than 100 presentations to school children. In addition, the Festival will promote healthy forests through walks and talks as a designated United Nations International Year of Forests event!
“With our theme Science Illuminates we have such an opportunity to show how reflected light can reveal the mysteries of distant planets, stars, nebulae and galaxies,” said Festival President Winnie Ennenga. “Science also illuminates ecological processes that are so essential for life here on our planet. The 2011 Festival will no doubt inspire and fascinate the next generation of astronomers, biologists and doctors.”
Support from more than 70 businesses, organizations and individuals makes the Flagstaff Festival of Science possible. Among the many sponsors, funding comes from the City of Flagstaff BBB revenues, Flagstaff Cultural Partners, the Flagstaff Community Foundation, W. L. Gore & Associates, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and Northern Arizona University.
For more information, visit the web site at www.scifest.org.