2026 Atlanta Science Festival expands hands-on events citywide, aiming to rebuild public confidence in science

A two-week, metro-wide schedule culminates with a free Piedmont Park expo

The Atlanta Science Festival returns March 7–21, 2026, with a two-week lineup designed to bring scientific work and scientific thinking into public spaces across metro Atlanta. Organizers have listed roughly 150 interactive events staged at more than 80 venues, ranging from campuses and museums to neighborhood sites and partner locations.

The festival is engineered by Science ATL with support from a network of community partners. The stated goal is broad public participation: programming is built for families, students, and adults, with events spanning topics that include wildlife and ecology, neuroscience and health, engineering and aerospace, robotics, and everyday “kitchen chemistry.”

Kickoff at Georgia Tech and a citywide menu of formats

The festival opens March 7 with Celebrate STEAM at Georgia Tech, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Bio Quad near Ferst Drive and Atlantic Drive. The kickoff event is structured as a public-facing showcase of demonstrations and hands-on activities led by scientists, engineers, and students, reflecting a recurring festival approach: meet researchers where they are, and let attendees try the tools and concepts themselves.

Across the two-week run, the published schedule includes guided walks, lab-style demonstrations, story-driven science programs, and community science trainings that introduce residents to field methods used to study local wildlife and habitat. Other events focus on the human body and health, connecting everyday questions—how bodies work, how environments shape health, how technology is built—to approachable activities.

Why “trust” is part of the conversation

Festival materials frame the 2026 season around the idea of “science for the people,” positioning the event as a way to make research feel visible, local, and relevant. The emphasis on interactive learning—rather than lectures alone—signals a strategy to strengthen understanding through direct experience, repeated contact with working scientists, and exposure to methods that show how evidence is tested and revised.

That approach is reflected in the festival’s programming mix, which blends technical subjects with familiar settings: nature encounters, cultural storytelling, and demonstrations that connect physics, biology, and engineering to daily life in Atlanta.

Exploration Expo: the festival’s largest public event

The closing weekend centerpiece is the Exploration Expo, scheduled for March 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Piedmont Park, at the intersection of Charles Allen Drive and 10th Street. The event is free and planned as a large-scale “science party” featuring about 100 hands-on booths from organizations, universities, and companies.

Expo activities listed in festival materials include microscope work, laser tinkering, building anatomy models, coding and robotics challenges, and structured opportunities to speak directly with scientists and meet live animals. The event is scheduled to run rain or shine.

• Festival dates: March 7–21, 2026
• Kickoff: Celebrate STEAM at Georgia Tech, March 7 (10 a.m.–2 p.m.)
• Finale: Exploration Expo at Piedmont Park, March 21 (10 a.m.–4 p.m.), free

The 2026 program is built around frequent, face-to-face encounters with science—showing not only results, but the processes behind them through demonstrations, community trainings, and interactive exhibits.