The Nebraska Science Festival finished another year with a month of science fun on April 30.
The month-long celebration of science, which featured 73 events in 16 different Nebraska cities, drew 855 attendees to the free public science expo alone with over 20 expo booths, with other events pushing the total attendance for the festival to approximately 7,500-plus.
In addition to the expo, the festival events included:
- Raptor Trivia;
- Science Sundays at the Riverfront;
- Omaha Science Cafe, “The Teenage Brain;”
- Bats Over Omaha;
- Star Party at Branched Oak Observatory;
- Walk to the Moon Challenge;
- STEAM Night at Kennedy Elementary School;
- Mad Science Cafe with No More Empty Pots;
- Wonderful Worms at the Library; and
- A statewide art contest.
“It was wonderful to be able to meet face to face once more with Science Festival attendees,” said SciFest coordinator Kacie Baum, senior manager for events and community engagement, UNMC Strategic Communications. “We were excited to bring back old favorites like the expo, and the public really enjoyed some of our new events. It’s great to see the community excited about science.”
The Nebraska Science Festival began in 2013 as an initiative of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which continues to administer the festival with the assistance of a number of organizations and individuals interested in the advancement of science literacy.
The Science Festival is designed to make science accessible, interactive, relevant and fun for kids and adults alike. In addition to UNMC, other 2025 sponsors included Boys Town, Metro Credit Union, and media sponsor KETV.
Planning already is underway for the 2026 Festival, which will run April 1-30.