2018 World Science Festival Brisbane Review

Though the Joh years bought Queensland a lingering reputation for anti-intellectualism, the truth is that we’re a state with a love of nerdy things.

Our cons are always bustling, our literary and arts festivals too. So of course, a science festival (21-25 March) was always going to be a crowd favourite.

In fact, we were the first city outside of New York to host a World Science Festival. And with the success of Brisbane’s efforts, countries around the world are scrambling to bring WSF to their shores.

The point of WSF is simple: to re-find the fun, and magic, of science. And at this year’s ambitious Brisbane events, the magic was on show for all to see.


Our first WSF foray brought us iconic M*A*S*H star and gleeful science nerd Alan Alda, who probably would have been a lot more impressive had he not been up against a hatchery of turtles.

This year the star power has taken a back seat to those adorable hatchlings, with tickets for the hatchery selling out within a few hours of release.

There were a lot of sold-out events this year. One of the quickest to sell out was QPAC’s world premiere of ‘Close Encounters Of The Third Kind’, a spectacular showing of the iconic movie accompanied by full, live orchestral and choral backing.

Brisbane guests were treated to a one-night-only, once-in-a-lifetime spectacular, brought to eerie life by the Queensland Festival Philharmonic and Voices of Birralee.


At the Queensland Museum, the hatchlings were the clear favourite, with epic queues each day as families enjoyed the chance to watch turtles hatching through the use of clear plastic incubators.

These turtles have a bright future ahead of them after their 15 minutes of fame; now they’ve learned to swim in the festival’s tanks, they’ll be tagged and released into the wild to help bolster the loggerhead turtle population.

The museum’s Mummies were another crowd favourite, helped along by an ‘After Dark’ event.


Dr Serena Love, an expert on Ancient Egypt, certainly won the crowds over by working with local micro-brewery Bacchus Brewing to create three Ancient Egyptian inspired brews for guests to try (these brews might be available at future ‘After Dark’ events for the exhibition, but for those who miss out, plans are afoot to add them to the Bacchus range).

But for those who couldn’t make the night time event, there were a series of talks showcasing the myths, magic and medicinal knowledge of the beloved ancient culture.

It wasn’t just the Cultural Centre playing host to WSF: the South Bank forecourt was transformed into a marketplace of ideas and magic, with hermit crabs to hold, art to make, and activities galore aimed at making science fun.


At its heart, WSF is an event with a commitment to helping children learn to love science, and presenters like Dr Karl were certainly fan favourites.

But while the focus is often on encouraging kids towards STEM studies (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), WSF also aims to find ways to bring the science love to all ages.

WSF is science through the lens of art, music, theatre and creativity, a welcoming space for those with questions, hosted by people who are, frankly just excited at the chance to talk about the subjects they love. Their passion is incredibly contagious.

The great news is that the Queensland Government has announced funding for another three years of WSF in Brisbane, and if this year’s event is anything to go by, 2019’s will be nothing short of spectacular.