The largest regional Science Festival is being held for the 17th time from December 12 to 14, 2024 at the Belgrade Fair, in halls 3 and 3a, on more than 8,000 square meters
This year’s edition of the event has the central theme EVOLUTION OF IDEAS – a concept that illuminates science as a constantly evolving discipline. New scientific fields are constantly being born while others are dying, and scientific theories are evolving and changing. At the 17th edition of the Science Festival, we will try to answer how these changes occur, what it tells us about the changing nature of science, and what it means for all of us.
The zone of interactive installations – Science without stopping will present the programs of 41 domestic scientific and educational institutions. This program segment is intended for audiences of all ages, especially those who want to experience scientific achievements first-hand, through the offered interactive content. Hundreds of scientists, current and future, joined forces and organized the biggest scientific program: exciting experiments that break myths, settings that will make the audience question numerous (pseudo) truths, gatherings that will reveal the fun side of science. And all this while walking through time, jumping from meridian to meridian, and even traveling far beyond the borders of our planet. The science fiction stage brings eight attractive performances to the audience, primarily guests from Sweden, the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Australia, Slovenia, but also domestic scientific communicators. In these show programs, the emphasis is on the fun side of science and the visual spectacle that leaves you breathless.
More than 120 teenagers from 13 schools participate in the Expert Teen Zone, which deals with peer education, in ten different settings. These young scientists and science ambassadors of sorts will challenge visitors to a series of scientific challenges, show what’s possible with a little science and teenage enthusiasm, and launch a series of revolutionary ideas to play with your brain’s gyri.
Our Little Zone is dedicated to children aged 5 to 11 years. and opens its doors to all curious minds ready to discover important scientific lessons through play. We will try the latest chocolate scientific recipes, but also other kitchen wonders. We will exercise both the left and right hemispheres of the brain with the help of interesting games, and we will also sail through distant seas and oceans. In short, small zone – big fun.
This year, the Science Festival also presents a new thematic unit: the Zone of Ideas and Innovation as a space for learning, critical thinking and conversation, a place where the past is re-examined and the future is considered in the present moment. The world of tomorrow will be different from the one we live in today, and that is why it is important to plant ideas in time that will make our life more beautiful in the future.
The Science Festival is the largest manifestation of science promotion in our region. It has been held 16 times so far. The last one, organized in May 2023, had over 25,000 visitors in three days.
This year, the Science Festival is also supported by the Ministry of Education, the Secretariat for Education and Child Protection of the City of Belgrade, and the Rectorate of the University of Belgrade.
Thanks to the embassies of Poland, Australia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, the international program of this year’s Science Festival was created.
A friend of this year’s Ball Corporation Science Festival with the Every Can Counts project. The traditional sponsor is Erste Bank. The sponsor of the Idea and Innovation Zone is National Geographic, and this time McDonald’s Serbia is the sponsor of the Small Zone of the Science Festival. Sponsors are Nutrino Lab Junior and the Register of National Internet Domains of Serbia (RNIDS).