Festival Hub
Kids | Tweens | Teens | Adults | All Ages

NanoFest's drop-in space hosting fun and fascinating stalls and events every day!


Drop by NanoFest's Festival Hub every day for a rotating selection of free, hands-on science for the whole whānau. We'll have a rotating selection of stalls from local science and conservation organisations, plus other daily activities in the space. Read on for a daily schedule of activities!

Everyday in the Festival Hub:

Science Storytime with UBS - 9:30-10am, booking required 
Imagination Playground - available 10am - 12pm only
Mixed Reality VR headsets - bookings required, available 12:30-3:30pm only
Dr Rock - 10am - 12pm only
Brick Pit
Little Creatures - 12:30-3:30pm daily except Saturday
Te Riu-a-Māui / Zealandia underwater map
Participatory science NZ Marine Studies
Genome Science of Life
E-Waste dropoff point

Rotating daily activities:

Wednesday 10 July
Enirvoschools - Transformers
Department of Conservation - Seed Bombs
Department of Biochemistry - Molecular Magic
NZ Marine Studies Centre Aquavan - Discovering our coastal treasures (museum reserve)

Thursday 11 July
Enirvoschools - Transformers
Department of Biochemistry - Molecular Magic
Town Belt Kaitiaki - Keen on Streams

Friday 12 July
Fireballs Aotearoa - Meet New Zealand's tenth meteorite!
HeartOtago - Mould your Muscle

Saturday 13 July
Fireballs Aotearoa - Meet New Zealand's tenth meteorite!
The Science of Crime
School of Computing - Drones, Mental Wellbeing, Robotics & Artificial Intelligence - available 1-3:30pm only
Drones on the museum reserve! - available 10-11am only, museum reserve

Sunday 14 July
The Science of Crime
Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research - Kiwi Kai
Drones on the museum reserve! - available 10-11am only, museum reserve

Festival Hub: General Information

All Festival Hub activities are whānau-friendly, free and available on a drop-in basis with two exceptions: the UBS Science Storytime and Mixed Reality VR activities are free but do require advance booking.

Children under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult. Children enjoying the Imagination Playground must be actively supervised by an adult at all times.

There is limited capacity in the Festival Hub space, and there may be busy times where entry will be restricted. However, the Tūhura Otago Museum is nearby and is great place to pass some time while waiting for the Hub to quiet down. Check out their NanoFest Makerspace on Atrium Level 1.

Other Events

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