Join Us in 2027

The New Zealand International Science Festival (colloquially know as Scifest or NZISF), has been bringing engaging science to Ōtepoti Dunedin since 1998.

The Festival is an excellent opportunity to reach a wide and varied audience and we have many event hosts that come back year after year. In our post-festival survey in 2026, 100% of hosts said they would come back next year and they gave the experience a 9.7/10! The Festival attracts over 15,000 people each year.

Some of the outcomes our event hosts recognise include Brand Awareness, Networking, Educational Outreach, Community Engagement, Sharing Research Outcomes and Testing and Developing Outreach.

We welcome individuals, scientists, artists, educators, community groups, businesses and organisations who are passionate about sharing ideas with the public. You don’t have to be a scientist - we’re looking for engaging experiences that help people explore and understand the world around them. If you have a good idea or an interesting concept related to science and want to communicate it, this is the place to be!

Start by reading our handy Get Involved Guide

• Apply with an Idea – before 9th Feb 2027

• Applicants Notified – before 15th Feb 2027

• Event Development – March 2027

• Full Event Details Confirmed – before 1 April 2027

• Programme Launch – 12th May 2027

• Festival – 9th-18th July 2027

CREATE YOUR OWN EVENT

We are on the lookout for events that engage the public (children, families and/or adults) in a variety of formats – you don’t have to be a scientist, just passionate about sharing and communicating science. We love the quirky, silly, nerdy, inspiring, creative, informative and curious! You produce your event and we are here to support you with venue logistics, event development, ticket management, marketing and even volunteers. There is no fee to be involved, and if you choose to charge, we just take a flat 10% of any ticket revenue (you choose the ticket price).

 JOIN OUR FESTIVAL HUB

A growing highlight of our Festival is the free drop-in Festival Hub. In 2026 we had more than 5000 people visit the space over 5 days! If you or your organisation don’t have the capacity to run your own event, this is a great way to be involved and connect with the public. We provide the venue, power and tables and you bring your knowledge, engagement skills and some cool activities or experiments. It’s totally free to be involved in this.

CONNECT YOUR BUSINESS

Do you have an interesting venue that would be perfect for one of our events, or amazing accommodation for event hosts and festival visitors? Perhaps you would like to offer discounts for festival attendees, science-related food or drink offerings, or in-store displays. Get in touch to talk about how you can be a part of the science celebrations in a way that works for you We often connect event hosts with suitable event venues and would be happy to add yours to the list.       

 SPONSOR AN EVENT OR FESTIVAL GUEST

Festival sponsorship happens in many ways including sponsoring specific events or festival guests. If you have an idea for an event or guest you’d like to sponsor, or if you want to hear about events and guests that require additional sponsorship, we’d love to hear from you!

Depending on your event and requirements, the Festival team can help with:

• Developing and refining your event idea

• Finding or coordinating a suitable venue

• Ticketing and ticket administration

• Festival marketing and promotional resources

• Event logistics and, where available, volunteers

We recommend you read our handy Get Involved Guide and visit the pages for Event Hosts or Festival Hub first. Then you'll make an application in Eventotron.

We use Eventotron, for all our events from application through to publishing the programme. You’ll use it to submit your initial idea and, if accepted, provide further details as your event develops. We get all Event Hosts and Festival Hub hosts to create an event so that we can have a beautiful and consistent-looking programme.

Submit your initial idea – before 9th Feb 2027

To submit your event idea, hit APPLY NOW, below. You'll be taken to our season page on Eventotron (NZ International Science Festival 2027) and will need to sign in or register.

Make sure you come back to our season page and apply through there. It will ask you for an Event name and type. You will able to change this later, so don't worry about it too much. When you hit APPLY NOW, you'll be taken to our season page on Eventotron and you'll have to add an Event name and type. You will able to change this later, so don't worry about it too much.

You don’t need to have every detail finalised at this stage; the purpose is to communicate your idea clearly enough for the Festival team to assess it.

We look forward to working with you to make science accessible, relevant and exciting for everyone.

We’ll let you know if you are accepted by Feb 15th and then you’ll have until April 1st to give us all the final details

Not sure or having issues.. get in touch

Have an idea but aren’t sure whether it fits? Having trouble with Eventotron? Get in touch — the team welcomes an early conversation.

Email:[email protected]
Phone: 021 205 6528