Where is the Festival?
For 2021, the Festival will be virtual at on the stpetescifest.org website.
Typically, the in person Festival is held on the waterfront at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus. MarineQuest is held at the same time next door at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
Attendees are encouraged to visit both events.
What is the Festival schedule?
Friday, October 15th is the Sneak Peek School Day. For 2021 live demonstrations and hands-on activities will take place on the stpetescifest.org website.
We will return in person in 2022 when Festival will be on the USF St. Pete campus. Schools must register to participate.
Saturday, October 16th is the Public Festival Day. For 2021, the main stage programs and other content will take place on the stpetescifest.org website.
We will return in person in 2022 when there will be exhibits, main stage programs, and concessions on the USF St. Pete campus.
Can I see the 2019 and 2020 Virtual Festivals?
We created online content for both the 2019 and 2020 Festivals. Follow the links below to see a story map of the 2019 Festival and the full interactive site for the 2020 Festival.
The St. Petersburg Science Festival (SPSF) will being held on Saturday, October 16, 2021 in conjunction with MarineQuest, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute’s annual open house. This year’s activities will be virtual.
The SPSF is a free, public celebration offering a wide range of hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and math-related activities. They include creative and compelling exhibits, demonstrations, tours, discussions and performances.
The SPSF also offers a Sneak Peek for schools on Friday, October 15, to provide local schools and students a sneak peek into the festival. Students in grades 4 and 5 will spend time experiencing hands-on science activities in a variety of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics discipline.
The Sneak Peek School Day: Friday, October 15, 2021.
St. Petersburg Science Festival Public Event (all ages): Saturday, October 16, 2021.
The 2021 Festival will be virtual.
Typically, the in person Festival is held on the grounds of the Poynter Park and University of South Florida St. Petersburg Campus – Bayboro Waterfront, 140 Seventh Ave. S., St. Petersburg, FL, 33701.
From Sixth Avenue South at the USF Bull statue walk along Harborwalk (find the tall, flag signs). The festival extends from here to the grassy area on the waterfront behind Davis Hall. Look for the many tents. You can’t miss it!
The City of St. Petersburg is home to many festivals; our community proudly celebrates our local art, sports, and music. These festivals showcase the amazing array of assets the Tampa Bay area has to offer and the community loves them.
St. Petersburg has numerous academic institutions, corporations and government agencies that are heavily invested in science, technology, engineering and math. It is also home to the St. Petersburg Ocean Team, a marine science research community of more than 1,600 working scientists and researchers.
This festival highlights St. Petersburg’s hidden science treasures, engages the community, and inspires young minds to become tomorrow’s innovators.
The St. Petersburg Science Festival is a grassroots community volunteer effort and the collaborators are a “who’s who” of science organizations in St. Petersburg and their friends. They include people from major academic centers to leading research organizations, cutting edge high technology corporations, museums, environmental outreach organizations, volunteer student interns who are planning, organizing and executing all the functions that go into putting on a public science event.
Sponsors from throughout the community, many of them collaborators, have provided funding for the science festival.
The Science Festival is a “carnival of science” filled with indoor and outdoor hands-on exhibits and activities. Among the exhibits and sights: view underwater remotely operated vehicles, peer into a microscope, learn about circuits, and see what marine life lives off of Florida’s coasts. You’ll have the opportunity to chat with experts from the fields of marine science, forensics, and exploration, just to name a few.
You will participate, create, interact, and be entertained!
We are fortunate to have many exhibitors who return every year. They include: Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Mad Science, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, NOAA, solar4STEM, Spectrum Bay News 9, The Florida Aquarium, U.S. Geological Survey, and USF College of Marine Science.
The public festival on Saturday, October 16th, is appropriate for all ages.
No pets please.
The Science Festival is free!
When the Festival returns to in person, parking is available downtown at the SouthCore Parking Garage – $5 for the day.
Free trolleys run to the St. Petersburg Science Festival and MarineQuest all day Saturday from the SouthCore parking garage (101 1st Avenue S).
Additional Parking at the USFSP parking garage, floors 2-5
Disabled Parking
- 1st Street South, between 6th Avenue South and 8th Avenue South
- 8th Avenue SE
- 3rd Street South, west side of street across from Harbor Hall
- USFSP parking garage
Festival Street Closures Between 7am – 5pm
- 6th Avenue South, between 3rd Street South and 1st Street South
- 2nd Street South, between 5th Avenue South and 6th Avenue South
When the Festival returns to in person, it has a selection of food and beverage vendors participating. They include:
The Campus Grind
The Tavern At Bayboro
St. Pete Concessions
