Director and founder of the Beaker Street Festival, Dr Margo Adler, discusses the science-inspired event in Hobart this August.

A wedding, a slime mould exhibition, dates with scientists, and stargazing in the crisp Tasmanian Winter sky – this August’s Beaker Street Festival is a chance to explore the things you didn’t know you wanted to explore.

A festival centred on science, it works through collaboration, galleries, museums, farms and theatre, allowing often mind-muddling concepts to be digested and absorbed in fun, engaging, and dynamic methods.

In Hobart alone, there are more scientists per capita than any other Australian city. The festival offers a curated itinerary to see Tasmania through the lens of science – to explore iconic environments with ecologists who’ve been studying them for 30 or 40 years, sip Tasmanian whisky while chatting about the science of distilling with some of the state’s best producers, or just sit opposite a bar table for a mind-expanding conversation with one of nearly 200 participating scientists.

For its tenth year, the festival takes the theme of The Second Act, thinking about the next ten years of the festival, what’s been great, and what they will let go of, so it stays innovative and exciting.