The North Carolina Science Festival (NCSF) is a month-long, yearly celebration encompassing hundreds of events throughout the state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. The festival is organized by Morehead Planetarium and Science Center on the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

campus with the goal of highlighting the educational, cultural and economic impact of science in the state. NCSF events include hands-on activities, talks, lab tours, exhibits and performances for all ages. The event has grown into the largest science festival in the world.

History

2010

The first North Carolina Science Festival was held Sept. 11-26, 2010, featuring Bugfest at the

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) is the largest museum of its kind in the Southeastern United States. It is the oldest established museum in North Carolina, located in Raleigh. In 2013, it had about 1.2 million visitors, and i ...

as its kick-off event. The festival coordinated with the

USA Science and Engineering Festival The USA Science & Engineering Festival is a bi-annual science festival held in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2010 by Larry Bock, the festival is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in the ...

and Observe the Moon night The festivals activities were hosted by museums and universities, others were hosted by businesses with science connections. The state's wine industry was showcased in events featuring the science of winemaking. The University of North Carolina hosted

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 ...

and

Adam Savage Adam Whitney Savage (born July 15, 1967) is an American special effects designer and fabricator, actor, educator, and television personality and producer, best known as the former co-host (with Jamie Hyneman) of the Discovery Channel televisi ...

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 ...

for a program at the Smith Center with nearly 5,000 in attendance. East Carolina University and Go-Science hosted more than 2,000 participants for the Eastern Regional Science Expo with exhibitions and demonstrations. The festival concluded with the UNC Science Expo at the

. The inaugural festival in 2010 included events at 89 participating organizations, with 22 percent of these programs in the mountain region, 63 percent in the piedmont region and 15 percent in the coastal region. As of Oct. 7, 2010, 60 host organizations had already reported attendance for 98 events totalling 89,494 participants. Sponsors for the 2010 North Carolina Science Festival were Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Time Warner Cable and SAS (platinum level); Biogen Idec, Lenovo, Magellan Science, The News & Observer and UNC Health Care (gold level); Inspire Pharmaceuticals, NC STEM Community Collaborative and UNC School of Education (silver level); BB&T, The

Research Triangle Park Research Triangle Park (RTP) is the largest research park in the United States, occupying in North Carolina and hosting more than 300 companies and 65,000 workers. The facility is named for its location relative to the three surrounding cities ...

Life Technologies Foundation Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy tran ...

, Dr. Nicholas B. Duck and family and the NC

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...

Foundation.

Present Day

Following the inaugural North Carolina Science Festival, organizers and board members moved the festival's annual schedule from fall to spring. The second North Carolina Science Festival was held April 13–29, 2012, again offering a series of science expos, guest speakers, tours, activities and other events across the state. Signature events included presentations by

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a po ...

at UNC-Chapel Hill and by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman at UNC-Charlotte Signature events in 2013 included presentations by

Alton Brown Alton Crawford Brown Jr. (born July 30, 1962) is an American television personality, food show presenter, chef, author, voice actor, and cinematographer. He is the creator and host of the Food Network television show ''Good Eats'' that ran for ...

in Durham and Charlotte as well as a State Wide Star Party at 45 sites across the state. The 2017 festival was kicked off by Apollo 13 astronaut

Jim Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of th ...

and a proclamation by

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III (born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician, serving as the 75th governor of North Carolina since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th attorney general of North Carolina from 20 ...

naming April STEM Education Month in the state. The 2017 festival also marked the first year with events in each of North Carolina's 100 counties.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Science festivals Science events in the United States Science and technology in North Carolina 2010 establishments in North Carolina Recurring events established in 2010