Geek Picnic is the largest
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an open air festival dedicated to popular science, modern technology, science and art.
The first festival was held in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in 2011. Since 2014, Geek Picnic has been held in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and St. Petersburg. In 2016, the first Geek Picnic was held in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
Festivals
2011
The first Geek Picnic took place, at the
New Holland Island
New Holland Island (russian: Но́вая Голла́ндия) is a historic triangular artificial island in central Saint Petersburg, Russia, dating from the 18th century. It is also known as Admiralty Island.
Construction
The island was ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, on August 6, 2011. It presented several scientific shows, including
3D printing
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is ...
and robotics, as well as indoor and outdoor activities like modern game consoles, monocycles,
jumping stilts, gaming zone and sports ground. The festival attracted more than 1500 visitors.
2012
The second Geek Picnic was held at the same location on August, 3rd. It featured a wide variety of events including robot exhibition, a number of lectures in the format of
TEDx
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
and masterclasses by recognized experts from Russian IT companies (Gaidar Magdanurov, Grachik Adzhamian, Alexey Voinov, Filipp Katz, Kirill Shichanov and Yury Lifshits), a job fair for programmers and a dedicated Windarium Windows education site. The recreational zone offered open library, gaming space, sports and a picnic. Around 7000 people have visited the event.
2013
In 2013, Geek Picnic was a two-day festival held at
Yelagin Island
Yelagin Island () is a park island at the mouth of the Neva River which is part of St. Petersburg, Russia. Yelagin Island is home to the Yelagin Palace but has a few other buildings as well. A former suburban estate of 18 century Russian nobl ...
. The territory was divided into 4 zones dedicated to technology, science, art and picnic. The festival featured a display of most recent inventions in robotics and 3d printing, interactive science museum, meteorite exhibition and
Fab lab
A fab lab (''fabrication laboratory'') is a small-scale workshop offering (personal) digital fabrication.
A fab lab is typically equipped with an array of flexible computer-controlled tools that cover several different length scales and vari ...
.
Event schedule included lectures by cosmonaut Alexander Volkov, historian
Lev Lurie, a known polyglot, language teacher and television presenter
Dmitry Petrov, engineer
Anatoly Wasserman
Anatoly Aleksandrovich Wasserman (russian: Анато́лий Алекса́ндрович Ва́ссерман, uk, Анатолій Олександрович Вассерман; born 9 December 1952) is a politician, journalist and political pu ...
, and Nigel Ackland, known to be the world’s first person to receive a bionic prosthetic arm, and numerous entrepreneurs, scientists and academics.
The Russian quadcopter racing championship took place during the festival. Recreational areas included food court, playground and open-air exhibitions. Visitor count exceeded 15000 through 2 days.
2014
![Geek Picnic (Moscow; 2014-01-26) 28](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Geek_Picnic_%28Moscow%3B_2014-01-26%29_28.JPG)
The winter session of 2014 Geek Picnic took place in
VDNKh VDNKh may refer to:
* The name of the exhibition centers in former Soviet Republics
** VDNKh (Russia), known as All-Russia Exhibition Center in 1992–2014
** National Complex Expocenter of Ukraine (formerly "VDNH of the Ukrainian SSR")
** Exhibi ...
,
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, on January 25–26. Theme zones dedicated to technology, science and art, entertainment, lectorium and a playground for children were set up in a 15 thousand square meters pavilion. A number of speakers including Anatoly Wasserman and futurologist Dmitry Gluchovskiy gave lectures, and the founder of the Venus project
Jacque Fresco
Jacque Fresco (March 13, 1916 – May 18, 2017) was an American futurist and self-described social engineer. Self-taught, he worked in a variety of positions related to industrial design.
Fresco wrote and lectured his views on sustai ...
held a skype conference call. The festival featured musical performance by
Alexander Robotnick
Alexander Robotnick (a.k.a. ''Maurizio Dami'') is an Italian electronic musician. He made his debut on the Italian music scene as the founding member of Avida, a dance-cabaret band featuring Daniele Trambusti and Stefano Fuochi.
In 1983 he attai ...
and the
Desert Planet
A desert planet, also known as a dry planet, an arid planet, or a dune planet, is a theoretical type of terrestrial planet with a surface consistency similar to Earth's hot desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipit ...
band. The displays included the world’s biggest
Tesla coil
A Tesla coil is an electrical resonant transformer circuit designed by inventor Nikola Tesla in 1891. It is used to produce high-voltage, low-current, high-frequency alternating-current electricity. Tesla experimented with a number of different ...
, 3D bioprinter prototype, quadcopter show, sculptures of Transformers characters and a robot show featuring Exoatlet hauler and InMoove android. The event had 30000 visitors.
The summer Geek Picnic was held at
Yelagin Island
Yelagin Island () is a park island at the mouth of the Neva River which is part of St. Petersburg, Russia. Yelagin Island is home to the Yelagin Palace but has a few other buildings as well. A former suburban estate of 18 century Russian nobl ...
, Saint-Petersburg, in August. The event schedule included over 60 lectures and 30 masterclasses and workshops, drone and robot operation competitions, programming contest. Festival featured DIY-zones, robotics and 3D printing exhibition as well as 3D printed fashion show by Larisa Katz, Pia Hinze and Joshua Harker and had a total of 18000 visitors.
2015
That year, both Moscow and Saint Petersburg festivals took place in summer. The Geek Picnic in Moscow was held in
Krasnaya Presnya park and featured 6 theme zones named 'Technology', 'Science', 'Art', 'Picnic', 'Expo' and 'Market'. A huge convention of people with bionic implants and prosthetics was the core event of the festival. Bebionic pioneer
igel Ackland Actress
ngel Giuffria'
cyborg
A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline. ' activist
Neil Harbisson
Neil Harbisson (27 July 1982) is a Catalan-born British-Irish-American cyborg artist and activist for transpecies rights. He is best known for being the first person in the world with an antenna implanted in his skull. Since 2004, internation ...
, Jens Naumann whose vision is partially restored by brain implant, drummer
Jason Barnes with robotic arm,
Christian Ristow
Christian Ristow (born July 2, 1970) is an American robotic artist. He is known for his robotic performance art under the name Robochrist Industries, his animatronics work in film and television, and his large-scale interactive sculptures.
Life a ...
with large-scale robotic arm 'The Hand of Man,' and model and singer
Viktoria Modesta
Viktorija Moskaļova (russian: Виктория Москалёва, Viktoriya Moskalyova; born 25 February 1987), better known as Viktoria Modesta, is a Latvian-born British singer-songwriter, performance artist, creative director, and model. Mo ...
, were among the participants. The musicians who played on the 3D-printed instruments also performed on the Picnic. 2015 Moscow Geek Picnic schedule also included music show performed on 3D printed instruments, fireworks, drone championship, lectures by
Anatoly Wasserman
Anatoly Aleksandrovich Wasserman (russian: Анато́лий Алекса́ндрович Ва́ссерман, uk, Анатолій Олександрович Вассерман; born 9 December 1952) is a politician, journalist and political pu ...
, space test pilot
Sergey Ryazansky
Sergey Nikolayevich Ryazansky (russian: Серге́й Николаевич Рязанский; born November 13, 1974) is a Russian Astronaut, cosmonaut. He was selected as commander of the IMBP-6 cosmonaut group in 2003, but later transferred t ...
and painter
Boryana Rossa
Boryana Rossa (born 1972) is a Bulgarian interdisciplinary artist and curator making performance art, video and photographic work.
Life and work
Her artwork has been exhibited at the National Gallery of Fine Arts in Sofia, Goethe Institute, the Mo ...
, and a communication session with
Gennady Padalka
Gennady Ivanovich Padalka (russian: Гeннадий Иванович Падалка; born 21 June 1958 in Krasnodar, Soviet Union) is a Russian Air Force officer and a Roscosmos cosmonaut. Padalka currently holds the world record for List of spac ...
and
Mikhail Kornienko
Mikhail Borisovich Kornienko (Михаил Борисович Корниенко; born 15 April 1960) is a Russian cosmonaut. Kornienko served as a flight engineer on the International Space Station during Expedition 23/Expedition 24, 24 and was ...
from aboard the
ISS
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (J ...
. The festival in Moscow had 22000 visitors.
The Saint Petersburg 2015 Geek Picnic was held at Yelagin Island on June, 20th and 21st and had an event schedule similar to earlier Moscow festival. The visitors were greeted by Ristow's 6-ton robotic arm. The educational part of festival featured talks by the head of the
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just oppo ...
Marina Loshak
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
, artistic director of the
Bolshoi Drama Theater
Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theater (russian: Большой драматический театр имени Г. А. Товстоногова; literally ''Tovstonogov Great Drama Theater''), formerly known as Gorky Bolshoi Drama Theater (russian: ...
Andrey Moguchy
Andrey Anatolyevich Moguchy (Russian: Андрей Анатольевич Могучий; born November 23, 1961, in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad, Soviet Union) is a Russian theatre director, primarily known for his work in drama theatre. Since 201 ...
, musician
Oleg Nesterov, ‘Mediaculture’ laboratory head Andrey Svibovich and other science and art workers joined by ‘cyborgs’ Nicolas Huchet and Viktoria Modesta. Pecha Kucha took place during the events. The festival had approximately 25000 visitors.
2016
The first
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i Geek Picnic, attended by more than 35 thousand people, took place in the
Sacher Park
Sacher Park (Hebrew: גן סאקר) is the largest public park in the center of Jerusalem,[Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...](_blan ...<br></span></div> in the center of <div class=)
on April 25–27. There were about 150 exhibition stands, of which about 75% were represented by Israeli teams.
he Moscow festival was held on June 18–19 in the
Kolomenskoye
Kolomenskoye (russian: Коло́менское) is a former royal estate situated several kilometers to the southeast of the city center of Moscow, Russia, on the ancient road leading to the town of Kolomna (hence the name). The 390 hectare ...
Museum, in St. Petersburg – on June 25–26 on Elagin Island.
Jamie Hyneman
James Franklin Hyneman (born September 25, 1956) is an American special effects expert who is best known as the former co-host of the television series ''MythBusters'' alongside Adam Savage, where he became known for his distinctive beret and wal ...
, the ''
MythBusters
''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television program, developed by Peter Rees and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast internatio ...
'' presenter, became the headliner of Russian festivals. More than 40 people gave lectures, including scientific journalist
Asya Kazantseva, sculptor
Andrey Bartenev, political analyst
Anatoly Vasserman
Anatoly Aleksandrovich Wasserman (russian: Анато́лий Алекса́ндрович Ва́ссерман, uk, Анатолій Олександрович Вассерман; born 9 December 1952) is a politician, journalist and political co ...
, space exploration popularizer Vitaly Egorov, space pilot and hero of the Russian Federation
Anton Shkaplerov
Anton Nikolaevich Shkaplerov (russian: Антон Николаевич Шкаплеров; born 20 February 1972) is a Russian cosmonaut. He is a veteran of four spaceflights.
Personal life
Shkaplerov is married to Tatyana Petrovna, and they ...
and others. Traditionally the festival was divided into zones "Science", "Technology", "Art" and "Picnic".
ITMO University
ITMO University (russian: Университет ИТМО) is a state-supported university in Saint Petersburg and is one of Russia's National Research Universities. ITMO University is one of 15 Russian universities that were selected to particip ...
had its own section at the Petersburg festival, the
Polytechnic University – at the Moscow festival. There was a Mars rover presented by
and a five-meter high robot "Dragon", created in
Stroganov Moscow State University of Arts and Industry.
In 2016 Geek Picnic beat the record for attendance: 29,000 people visited the St. Petersburg festival, the Moscow event attracted 27,000 spectators.
2017
In 2017, Moscow's Geek Picnic is scheduled for June 17–18 and will be held on the territory of the Kolomenskoye Museum. The festival in St. Petersburg will be held on June 24–25, in Pulkovo Park in the south of the city. The main theme of the festivals in 2017, co-organized by
Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab (; Russian: Лаборатория Касперского, tr. ''Laboratoriya Kasperskogo'') is a Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and operated by a holding company in th ...
, is "mind games". Among more than 20 invited researchers are
Alexander Panchin, Petr Levich, Ilya Zakharov, Daniel Laman and Vasily Klyucharev. The key speaker of the St. Petersburg festival is the science popularizer
Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ath ...
, the astrophysicist
Lawrence Krauss
Lawrence Maxwell Krauss (born May 27, 1954) is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who previously taught at Arizona State University, Yale University, and Case Western Reserve University. He founded ASU's Origins Project, now cal ...
will be the main guest at the Moscow festival.
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://geek-picnic.me
Festivals in Russia
Festivals in Israel
Science festivals