Valletta hosted Malta’s largest celebration of science and the arts last weekend, as Science in the City brought together scientists, researchers, artists and science enthusiasts on September 26 and 27.
Rooted in the theme ‘Past Forward’, the festival showcased how lessons from history inspired future innovation, creativity and public engagement across STEAM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics).
“The festival’s most diverse programme yet”
The organising team contacted over 1,000 organisations to participate in the event, resulting in the festival’s most diverse programme yet, which generated over 1.1 million views on social media.
Overall, 20,000 visitors attended the festival, which had 90 stands at the street festival, 18 performances and 19 workshops. The event saw the participation of 14 NGOs and 12 student organisations and 378 researchers, 239 content providers and over 100 festival volunteers.
Events shift indoors
Science in the City opened successfully on September 26, with tons of interactive research and public engagement experiences exploring heritage, biodiversity and digital innovation. But, unfortunately, Valletta was hit by a thunderstorm for most of Saturday.
This forced the festival organisers to cancel the Street Festival at Triton Fountain.
However, the curtains were not closed completely on the festival, as the Performance and Workshop Festival at Sala San Duminku and the Duttrina continued with a full programme of science‑inspired theatre, music and workshops, creating plenty of lively engagement among the festival attendees.
First-time participants
Every year, Science in the City reaches out to different institutions for their support to make the festival happen. The Past Forward Performance festival was supported by the Arts Council Malta’s Arts Support Scheme.
For the first time, the Ministry for Education Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation set up a stand fin the Street Festival, where visitors were challenged to solve puzzles inspired by historic inventions in a thrilling digital adventure.
Another first-time participant was the Ministry For Agriculture, Fisheries And Animal Rights which showcased a variety of plants to educate the citizens through the GENE project.
The festival also welcomed old-timey participants such as Esplora and Xjenza Malta that had a collaborative stand with different activities. Among others, visitors had a chance to discover how their daily choices impact marine life and take part in a time-travelling adventure.
Other festival partners did not participate directly but supported the festival nevertheless, such as Embassy Valletta Hotel.
Science in the City returns to Valletta next September. Keep an eye out for future events on the Science in the City Facebook page. Also check out the festival on TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and the official website.