It’s spring in Philadelphia, which means it’s time to celebrate science. The Philadelphia Science Festival is back next week for nine days of STEM-filled fun. All told, members of the Penn community will be presenting some 45 talks and activities in 14 venues across the city.

“The Science Festival is our once-a-year opportunity to promote public understanding of science and technology in the broadest sense,” says Jane Horwitz, director of Penn’s Science Outreach Initiative who is coordinating the University's participation in the Festival. “As a major research university, this is something that is expected of us, but having a citywide showcase to focus on gives us added incentive to be exemplary communicators.”

The opening weekend of the Festival features “Science in the Park” events on Saturday, April 22, coinciding not only with Earth Day, but also with the March for Science that will take place in Philadelphia as well as hundreds of other cities around the globe. True science devotees can find time to go to the March in the morning then hop back to West Philly, where several groups from Penn will convene at Clark Park from 1 to 5 p.m. to present family friendly, hands-on activities aimed at inspiring the next generation of scientists and science lovers.

The following day, Sunday, April 23, features “Be a Scientist” events, three of which are being organized by Penn, including one at the Penn Museum and another at the Pennovation Center. Stacey Peeples is curator-lead archivist at Pennsylvania Hospital, which is hosting the third Penn event, “Be an 18th and 19th Century Doctor,” from noon to 3 p.m.

“What is really nice about participating in the Philadelphia Science Festival is that we are able to do something that we can’t do all the time, which is open our doors to the community on the weekend,” Peeples says.

The open house will invite the public into the historic hospital, where they’ll be able to see the striking Great Court and Benjamin West’s famous painting, “Christ Healing the Sick in the Temple,” view the apothecary and historic amphitheater, and receive a tour of the medicinal herb gardens in the courtyard.

“We’re excited about this event because it really highlights that everything in history is cyclical,” Peeples says. “When you look at things like the therapeutic garden, herbal medicine, people can relate to that desire for natural therapies today. And of course we like to note that the hospital has always served the community around us, and continues to today.”

Each day of the festival has opportunities for people of all ages to engage. While most of the Festival events are free and open, some weeknight adults-only events are ticketed, such as the “Science Prom” on Friday, April 21; “Fake Out: The Science of Deception” and “Sensory Overload” on Tuesday, April 25; and “Life on Mars” and “Gross Anatomy: Sex” on Thursday, April 27.

Carlo Siracusa, director of the animal behavior service at the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Ryan Hospital, has been participating in Philadelphia Science Festival events for several years. This year he’ll be speaking about how the sense of smell is linked to emotions at the “Sensory Overload” event.

“I’m really happy that there is something like this in Philadelphia and that it has been so popular in the past years,” he says. “I remember when I was a kid I was avid about all things science, but it was difficult to find a role model. I think that, particularly for young people, it’s so important to show that we’re surrounded by science in all the things that we do and, most important, that it’s fun.”