The 33rd Science Festival: An Ocean of Knowledge

The 33rd edition of the Science Festival will be held from October 4 to 14, 2024, in several countries, including France, Italy, and the United States. This event aims to promote science to the general public through thousands of free activities, offering a fun and accessible way to discover science. With over 500 events, this year’s theme is the ocean, a largely unexplored environment and a significant area of research.

Since 1991, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research in France has organized the Science Festival, which allows everyone to meet scientists from various fields, visit laboratories, and engage with cultural mediators and librarians passionate about science and technological innovations.

Indeed, the Science Festival aims to build bridges between researchers and citizens, highlight the scientific community's remarkable work, and make scientific information accessible to all. It allows everyone to understand the challenges of scientific advances and actively participate in public debates. Moreover, it offers a unique opportunity to discover research careers and to inspire curiosity and a passion for science among young people, thus sparking future vocations.

Over one million people participate annually in over 6,000 events organized in France and abroad.

Program for the 2024 Edition

This year’s theme, "Ocean of Knowledge," is part of the Year of the Sea from September 2024 to September 2025. Exploration and preservation of the ocean are significant challenges of the 21st century, involving research in fundamental, applied, human, and social sciences.

Activities are planned for all audiences: families, students, curious individuals, skeptics, or science enthusiasts. The complete program is available online, allowing people to search for events by region, type of activity, target age group, and accessibility. Some activities, particularly for children, will take place online.

For example, the Brest Science Village will highlight the diversity of marine sciences, while the Musée de l’Homme in Paris will be exceptionally free from October 11 to 13, 2024.

New Feature

A sixth volume of Science and Bubbles will be published, featuring seven comic strips exploring "Water in All Its States." These stories, created by doctoral students, will be distributed free of charge during Science Festival events and available in media libraries, public libraries, and documentation centers in middle and high schools.

For more information, check out the full program of the 2024 Science Festival.