Community Corner

Free USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo This Weekend

More than 3,000 hands-on activities, 150 live stage performances at expo and book fair Saturday and Sunday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Science helps extreme athletes excel. It helps creative survivalists gear up for a zombie invasion. And it helps all of us explore the universe through songs. That's just three of 150 live stage performances at the 3rd USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo and Book Fair.

The free event provides more than 3,000 hands-on activities for kids and adults. Take a photo living on Mars, pilot a variety of flight simulators, build your own glider, suit up for an Arctic exploration and get a selfie with Ben Franklin.

Hosted by Lockheed Martin, the Festival Expo runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 26-27 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. It's the grand finale of the Festival’s year-long science celebration.

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“Science is amazing…that’s our message to kids and adults attending the Festival," said co-founder Larry Bock. "Staying competitive as a nation means we have to encourage more kids to think about careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. What better way to capture their imaginations than gathering the rock stars of science in one place and providing activities they can really do?”

Taking the entire convention center, the Festival Expo will also have a Career PavilionBook Fair—complete with signings by well-known science authors, and multiple competitions such as EPA P3’s sustainability challenge. In all, the Festival expects more than 250,000 people to participate.

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The Festival features science celebrities, explorers, astronauts, athletes, authors, and experts in fields like robotics, genomics, medicine, advanced manufacturing, and even 3D printing. Participating celebrities include:

  • Dirty Job’s Mike Rowe (Discovery Channel)
  • Bill Nye the Science Guy
  • Grammy Award-Winners “They Might Be Giants”
  • Author and Illustrator David Macaulay
  • Author and Actress (Wonder Years) Danica McKellar
  • Science Writers from TV Shows like Big Bang Theory, House and Breaking Bad.

To learn more, visit USAScienceFestival.org or watch the video at usasciencefestival.org/festival-highlight-video.


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