A winter festival for curious adults
Imagine a place where scientists grace centre stage, microscopes live on bar tables, and late-night conversations have the potential to change the world. Welcome to Beaker Street Festival, where science brings us together.
Held each August in Lutruwita/Tasmania, Beaker Street Festival brings nearly 20,000 people together across more than 70 events mixing science, art, culture, big ideas, and the best of Tasmanian environments, food, and drink. Returning for its 11th year in 2027, the Festival invites adults from all walks of life to join crucial conversations about the topics shaping our lives through dinners, field trips, performances, talks, experiments, and the chance to have a drink and a chat with nearly 200 participating scientists.
Past participants include Australian astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg, Dr Karl, Nobel Laureate Prof Brian Schmidt, Wendy Zukerman, Adam Spencer, Tegan Taylor, Dr Kirsten Banks, Mona founder David Walsh, and many other leading voices in science and culture.
Beaker Street Festival is presented by Beaker Street, a DGR-endorsed not-for-profit organisation based in Lutruwita/Tasmania, working to build community through scientific understanding.
Do I need to be “into science”?
Not at all. Most Beaker Street audience members are not scientists.
The Festival is designed for people who are curious about the world, enjoy learning new things, and like experiences that are a bit different from the usual festival offering. The program is created for adults, but there are a few family-friendly events as well.
People come to Beaker Street because it feels different. You can show up with friends for a fun night out, then accidentally leave thinking differently about the Universe, technology, nature, your own brain, or the future of humanity.
If you enjoy good storytelling, fascinating conversations, live events, food, nature, art, music, or clever people saying surprising things in pubs, you’ll feel very much at home.
A truly Tasmanian festival
Beaker Street Festival could only exist here.
Tasmania has an unusual concentration of scientists, artists, makers, environmentalists, and adventurous people packed into a small island at the edge of the world. Hobart is Australia’s gateway to Antarctica, surrounded by mountains, waterways, wilderness, and some of the clearest skies on Earth. It also boasts more scientists per capita than any other Australian city.
The Festival draws energy from all of that.
Beaker Street spills out into the city and the landscape itself. Scientists are waiting to mingle in pubs. Events unfold across the waterfront. Regional experiences take you into forests, coastlines, observatories, distilleries, farms, and dark sky locations across the state.
It feels local, atmospheric, and unmistakably Tasmanian.
GET INVOLVED. We’re always looking for fine folks to support our work and help create the magic.
Previous Programs
2026
At a time of reckoning and reinvention for humanity, our 2026 Festival’s theme, “The Second Act”, is a provocation to interrogate our assumptions, invite debate, ask harder questions, and reaffirm our connection with each other, in real life. Oh, and maybe have some fun too.
2025
Wild Ideas, Curious Adventures, and Nerds. Beaker Street Festival 2025 took a welcome detour into new territory, discovering better ways to live and smarter ways to die, and offering up plenty of opportunities to party (including cameos from entertainment powerhouses Myf Warhurst, Dr Emse Louise James, and Michael Hing). Hobartica also went next-level, with Antarctic rituals, Celestial Concerts, a Cultural Embassy and nightly talks and jazz.
2024
Introducing: Hobartica! Take a deep-dive into Antarctica, without leaving a trace. Including Polar Plunge pools, Finnish Sauna Tents, Antarctic audioscapes, and loads of Antarcticans to answer all your coldest questions. Plus, a futuristic mashup of space, AI, food and wellness trends, with a healthy dose of nature excursions and an east coast retreat.
2023
Psychedelics, Menopause, and Tim Flannery were part of our 2023 Featured Speaker Sessions at Hobart’s Theatre Royal Studio Theatre, with Fungi Expeditions, Bat Tours, and Museum Vaults included in our Field Trips – the best way to experience Tasmania’s hidden secrets and wild places. Seaweed and Vaginas were on the menu at Mona, and our Dark Sky Retreat at Spring Bay Mill was an unforgettable exhale.
2022
Is science really for everyone? In 2022 we took at deep dive into the cultural complexities of science, with discussions from the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, the Deaf community, and a musical exposé expressing the wishes of the dead. We also went north, with events exploring the science of stadiums, sparkling wine, and sauerkraut.
