North Carolina Science Festival starts April 1, extended for full month

The month-long statewide festival features free events for all ages, including Statewide Star Parties. This year's theme is "The Science of Food and Drink."

Posted 1:00 a.m. Mar 27, 2018 — Updated 1:00 a.m. Mar 27, 2018

Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

, Go Ask Mom editor

Just in time for spring break, the North Carolina Science Festival is about to begin. And this year, it's even longer.

Since it began in 2010, the festival, which celebrates science with free and inexpensive events across North Carolina, has run for two weeks. This year, it will run for the entire month of April.

"We just couldn't contain all the science fun and learning. More and more events were spilling into days just before or just after the designated two-week period," said Jonathan Frederick, festival director, in a press release. "Extending the festival to a month makes sense for many reasons. It provides more flexibility for our event hosts, increases value for our sponsors and provides additional opportunities for more North Carolinians to participate."

This year, the festival will run from April 1 to April 30. The theme will be "The Science of Food and Drink."

STEM focus

The festival is a celebration of science, technology, engineering and math (so-called STEM subjects) and its impact on North Carolina. It is the largest science festival in the nation and the first to encompass an entire state, according to the festival's website.

In 2017, more than 240,000 participants attended 850 events at schools, museums, community centers, libraries, parks and other venues. Two astronauts, 5,218 volunteers and 2,743 STEM professionals contributed to its success, according to the festival.

Find events near Raleigh, Triangle

The festival's website has an easy-to-use calendar where you can quickly pull up details about events that are happening near you.

A quick list of Raleigh-area events for next week include:

The Great Blue Jay Nature Hunt on April 2 at Blue Jay Point County Park
An Earth Fair at NC State on April 4
Radical Recess programs at Marbles Kids Museum on April 4 and April 6.
And Going Viral, a day-long event at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences on April 7 that will focus not on social media, but on infectious diseases.

The festival's website has details about these and all of its other upcoming events. If you'll be traveling across North Carolina during spring break, be sure to check for activities and programs that will be happening at your destination too.

Don't miss the Statewide Star Parties

Statewide Star Parties are a signature event of the festival, thanks to support from the North Carolina Space Grant. During the 6th annual Statewide Star Party, astronomy clubs, parks, planetariums, science centers and other venues will host skywatching sessions at 37 sites on April 20 and April 21.

There also will be hands-on activities at these free events so you can learn more about what's out there in the universe. There are lots of events here in the Triangle, including in Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Fayetteville and Raleigh.

Again, the festival's website has the details.

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