World Science Festival Brisbane
Whether you're interested in a peek inside Queensland Herbarium, the physics of skateboarding or seafaring cinema, this fest has you covered.
Overview
Think of the possibilities: that's a statement at the heart of science as a discipline, and it must be a guiding principle at World Science Festival Brisbane as well. Since it held its first event in 2016, this celebration of curiosity about the world we live in — and beyond — keeps finding new ways to surprise with its annual program. Head along in 2025 and you'll be able to unpack the physics of skateboarding, let seafaring cinema flicks float your movie-loving boat, explore the affects of awe, peer at the Antarctic landscape, dive into the quantum realm, hang out with Australian wildlife, peer inside labs and more.
This is the tenth time that the Brisbane offshoot of the New York-born event has taken place, this time filling Brisbane and heading to Ipswich from Friday, March 21–Sunday, March 30. Your destinations: Queensland Museum, the Cultural Precinct, South Bank Piazza, Fish Lane and Queensland Museum Rail Workshop, for starters, for talks, panels, installations and events across a full lineup of 200-plus sessions.
Skating joins the program via an arena show that blends gravity-defying extreme sports with science — and expect to never think about hopping on a board the same way again. A reliable favourite at the Gallery of Modern Art's Australian Cinematheque, the festival's film program is screening six flicks: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou for a bit of Wes Anderson comedy, 1954 page-to-screen adaptation 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Studio Ghibli's Ponyo and recent Disney sequel Moana 2, as well as a double dose of fearsome creatures via documentary Playing with Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story and classic blockbuster Jaws.
Digital scanning by Oscans in 2019 on authority of Carl Reinecke of WildBear Entertainment.
Why do humans seek the feeling of awe? Brisbane artists Counterpilot will help you understand, setting up a makeshift laboratory at Queensland Museum — and letting you either take part, complete with using biometric sensors, or watch on. Does the Antarctic landscape inspire awe? Answering that isn't part of Counterpilot's addition to the program, but you'll find out at The Cube at QUT, where icy climes will feature across 26 multi-touch screens spanning two storeys in height.
A Co-Founder of World Science Festival, Professor Brian Greene is back on the bill for another year, chatting quantum physics. For more on the subject, Quantum Australia's Quantum Conference is also on the lineup. From there, when you're not checking out family-friendly activities at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary — or going behind the scenes at State Library of Queensland, Queensland Herbarium, QUT Centre for Robotics and other interesting organisations — you can hear about research that might suggest that ageing isn't inevitable, watch battling machines, learn about crustaceans and ponder all things Mars.
Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb return for another Afternoon of Science chat, and the fest's yearly debate is again bringing humour to the topic. At QPAC, you can also listen to free string tunes — or at Fish Lane, culinary experts (think: flavour chemists, sensory scientists and food researchers, plus chefs and mixologists) want you to contemplate the science behind food and drinks, including by doing some tasting.
For those eager to switch off, the detox sessions have that in mind, such as on a birdwatching walk in the Archerfield Wetlands.
Atmosphere Photography
