Public succes at the 18th Science Festival
Despite the heat, nearly 18.000 people came to El Born to enjoy moret han 160 scientific activities.

The 18th Science Festival (Festa de la Ciència) has once again been an epicenter of attraction for a very large audience that has included all ages. Throughout the weekend of Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1, around 18,000 people were able to enjoy the shows, workshops, experiments, micro-talks, presentations, games, escape rooms and live music that were offered. More than 120 entities and institutions were responsible for organizing the 164 proposals that could be seen around El Born Museu d’Història de Barcelona, the Plaça Comercial and the Parc de la Ciutadella, a space incorporated into the context of the new project of La Ciutadella Knowledge Hub.
The closing day of the Citizen Science in Schools program kicked off the Festival, for the second consecutive year. On Friday, May 30th, between 10am and 12pm, a representation of the total of 600 students and the 17 educational centers participating during the course in participatory research programs were able to share their results and various experiences with research staff. Overall, the different schools have divided their work into 8 projects, which, among others, have focused on the impact of smells or sounds on spaces, the seasonal changes of plants and animals, the presence of microplastics on the beach or the hydrological and ecological state of the Besòs river.
This Science Festival has opened, as a novelty, a whole space exclusively focused on quantum. This physical discipline, which began more than a century ago, studies matter on a microscale, from atomic and subatomic particles, and the great changes, many of them still ignored, and reactions that they produce. The Magic of Quantum has hosted several activities in different formats over the two days and has been framed in the celebration of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, declared and promoted by UNESCO. It has been organized by the Catalonia Quantum Academy, a collaborative platform established to strengthen training and progress in the subject.
Among other activities, the different mathematical challenges and the close relationship they have with magic have once again stood out. And also the various demonstrations for the little ones and for adults within the Universe space related to space research. The Citizen Science Space has also been opened again, which has included 9 activities (demonstrations and practical workshops) to learn, for example, how to do a butterfly census, in the Ciutadella Park, or to know what we can do to reduce the consequences of a natural disaster such as a flood. A space that reflects all the work carried out in Barcelona by the Citizen Science Office, a space that advises and accompanies research staff who lead participatory proposals and the public.
The Festival also included several guided tours, to the archaeological site of El Born on the one hand, and to the two spaces within the Parc de la Ciutadella that are included in the strategic project of La Ciutadella Knowledge Hub: the Hivernacle and the Centre Martorell d’Exposicions. The first contains an extensive Mediterranean collection and the second has two exhibitions on display: “Nature or Culture?” and “Wow. Museum Animals. Science, Technology and Art”
On Saturday, from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., the evening was dedicated to activities aimed more at an audience from the age of 16. The highlight once again was the Science Slam, a 5-minute scientific micro-talk competition, where the public voted and decided on the best of all. Or a concert, Beyond Collapse, with a futuristic mix of music, voice and sounds that brought together a good number of visitors and passersby and put the finishing touch to the first day.
For the last and third year, visitors to this 18th Science Festival were also able to solve, or attempt to solve, the questions and the final mystery of the “Discover the Enigma” Clues Game. A booklet with questions related to science, with clues and signs that led to the answer, which could be followed in various spaces in both El Born and Parc de la Ciutadella. Apart from serving to disseminate various scientific topics, 3 prize lots were drawn among those who completed it, on Sunday at the last minute, with the following content:
– Four tickets to the Natural Sciences Museum
– Four tickets to access CosmoCaixa
– A board game, Nobel Run, from the Tranjis Games publisher. In the end, the 18th Science Festival has demonstrated both Barcelona’s capacity and interest in disseminating information in all areas of science, an essential task to bring research and innovation closer to all audiences.