In a world grappling with complex political and economic challenges, there’s something that continues to drive progress, hope and helps bring people together… SCIENCE!
The Beaker Street Festival in Hobart just wrapped up its eighth year, and it’s clear that the city was buzzing with excitement. This annual celebration isn’t just your average science fair—it’s a dynamic fusion of science, art, and community that showcases the best of Tasmanian creativity, beauty and innovation. With a fantastic blend of arts, fauna, flora, and nerdy scientific splendor, the festival captures the magic and fun of exploring our living, breathing world, along with the remarkable people who make it all happen.
Dr. Margo Adler, the festival’s founder and director, shared their vision: “Our goal with Beaker Street Festival is to build community through scientific understanding and to create immersive experiences at the intersection of science and art.” And they’ve nailed it! The festival sprawls across Hobart’s cultural and entertainment hotspots, transforming the city into a playground of curiosity and creativity.
As the festival unfolded, Hobart transformed into a hive of activity, with every venue offering its own unique slice of the science-meets-art experience. Whether you were a seasoned science buff or just curious to explore, there was something for everyone. Now, let’s dive into some of the festival’s most unforgettable moments that kept the city buzzing with excitement.
Drop-in Touring talking science folk every night
The first event I attended at this festival was a highlight for me—and it was absolutely free. It’s called Hobartica, featuring a rotating group of Antarctic scientists every night who set up shop in their respective drop-in tables at the venue with fascinating exhibits from their esteemed work. They’re happy to chat with you about it all for free from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM every night during the festival at the Waterside Pavilion, which is beautifully transformed into a science lab bar hotspot. Following 7:30pm, live jazz kicks off who play in a considerate enough volume where you can continue talking to to scientists as the night continues.
On one night I got to talk to a whale researcher about the charismatic megafauna of Antarctic seas. Her work into supporting the some of the biggest whales of our planet points to Antarctic krill who are known to have a high fat content of omega-3 fatty acids which attracts many whales for a super yummy source of energy to load up on when conducting long migrations.
On another night, a specialist of twilight fish enlightened me with how many pro gamer adaptations fish in the ocean’s twilight zone developed in order to stay alive. So many adaptations from strawberry-like pigments from squids and bioluminescence from many other fish help protect themselves against other predators and help to create a worthy competitor to Sydney Vivid Festival but only for fish patrons.
For a layman like me that isn’t the most science minded guy and know so little about the fauna and flora of an icy wonderland, the articulate and infectious passion these scientists had for their work almost made me want to go do a masters in marine science.
Real nerds go to a Celebrity Science Debate on Saturday night
When the sun goes down, Hobart City Hall lit up on Friday and Saturday night with Main Stage Sessions 1-4 featuring a house band and rock star scientists and celebrity guests. This included (but was not limited to) Dr Karl, Adam Spencer, Professor Alan Duffy, Dr Kirsten ‘Astrokirsten’ Banks and Wendy Zukerman.
These main stage sessions ranged from incredible guest talks on Aussie space adventures, like our first Aussie semi-autonomous moon rover called…’Roo-ver’ as part of the Artemis program, and interviewing the mind-blowing adventures of Australia’s first female astronaut, Katherine Bennell-Pegg.
In other matters of great Aussie science, we had a star-studded great debate of comedic powerhouses arguing on whether it’s worth giving birth to future generations on a planet so environmentally and economically messed up by us pesky humans. It was first time I saw a member of a debate team openly bribe the adjudicator and audience with his merch on stage. Such utter nerve from the “First Dog on the Moon”, The Guardian cartoonist and illustrator Andrew Marlton.
Fun Times with Fungi in a Tunnel
Another unique experience was the tour of Dean Smith’s Tunnel Hill Mushrooms farm out at Mount Rumney, which is a 20 minute drive from Hobart. A supplier of many top Hobart restaurants, Dean grows multiple species of mushrooms in his incredible railway tunnel and more warmer varieties in his shipping container. Accompanying Dean is Tim Murch from West Tamar Fungi who put his science prowess to good use, producing various fungi cultures, spawn and growbags.
The dynamic duo from two very different mushroom growing backgrounds pack a bunch. Dean toured us around his farm and gigantic tunnel where you witness the jaw dropping facilities and processes of mushroom growing heaven on a biblical scale. Tim showed us how to make our own Blue Oyster mushroom growbags where we put and layer (like a lasagna) in a mixture of cold pasteurized sugarcane/straw and grain spawn into a sealed bag that will grow with time into a mycelium packed substrate that will then sprout out blue oyster mushrooms.
Everyone got to take a bag home and spoiler alert… the oyster mushroom that looked like it grew out of a bag of cement was the most tastiest fried fungi I’ve ever had.
Tasmania and Nerds are a Winning Combo
This festival is not only such a fun showcase of what Tasmania has to offer, but a love letter to Aussie science. If there’s one festival I attended this year where I’m simply glad it exists, it has to be this one. It strengthens our community, is quintessentially Tasmanian, and inspires (with so much fun and dazzle) so many of us to support and pursue a career in the footsteps of people working night and day to protect this mighty earth’s fauna and flora. What I’ve covered was only a cusp of the incredibly fun program of week-long events that has now wrapped.
My first Beaker St Festival will definitely not be my last.
As Beaker Street 2024 comes to a close, below are some impressive stats from this year’s festival:
- Over 10,000 attendees, an increase in attendance by 30%
- 70% of attendees were from a non-science background
- 70 plus events across 30 venues, with half being free to the public
- Over 700 kids (and certainly some adults) inspired by an Australian astronaut
- Festival favourite The Roving Scientist Bar, grew to include 150 roving scientists this year
- A new highlight this year, Hobartica saw around 1,800 people develop a better connection to Antarctica, 1,100 sweaty Finnish sauna sessions and 882 Antarctic ice plunges!
- 12 scientific strip teases from 8 drag queens
- Entertaining vignettes about 13 animal vaginas
- 600 Beaker Street condoms being pocketed across the week.
Beaker Street Festival 2025 will return next August. Stay tuned for more updates here.
