Edinburgh Science Festival 2023 begins on Saturday

The 2023 edition of the Edinburgh Science Festival begins on Saturday, 1 April.

This year’s theme is Let’s Experiment and Edinburgh will be transformed into a living laboratory, with a jam-packed programme of hands-on science for people of all ages at 31 venues across the city. 

One of the Festival’s flagship venues, the National Museum of Scotland, will house Trees of Life in its Grand Gallery from Saturday. This is presented as part of the Experimental Life interactive activity, and was created by Edinburgh-based We Throw Switches in collaboration with Berlin-based artist Robin Baumgarten and award-winning composer and artist Luci Holland.

Trees of Life is a specially commissioned, playable, interactive installation which explores Charles Darwin’s revolutionary theory of evolution through natural selection. It is supported by Lumo and developed with support from Creative Scotland through The Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund.  

The National Museum of Scotland also hosts two themed weekends of fun for families at either end of the Festival. 

FutureFest(1-2 April) celebrates technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, coding, computers and space, offering children and families the chance to take a moment to wonder at the stars in a pop-up planetarium and create their vision for the future with LEGO® Build the Change.  

From prehistoric creatures to the cutting-edge of climate science, EarthFest (15-16 April) is a celebration of the world around us that offers the chance to learn more about our planet, the animals that live here and how we can take care of it. Learn about animal intelligence in the interactive Amazing Animals show and build your own dinosaur skeleton with giant bones.