Śląski Festiwal Nauki

The Silesian Science Festival Katowice (Śląski Festiwal Nauki) is a big public celebration of science, and this is its 10th edition. Over three days it brings scientists together with anyone who wants to know more. The aim is to take science out of labs and lecture halls and make it a place for conversation, hands-on experience, play and shared reflection. This year’s theme is “INTELIGENCJE” (Intelligences), deliberately plural. Artificial intelligence is part of it, but the festival takes a much wider view. It asks whether intelligence exists only in the human mind, what role emotions, senses and relationships play in thinking, whether a group can be intelligent, and what the remarkable cooperation seen in nature tells us. It also looks at machine intelligence that learns, processes huge amounts of information and creates images and texts.

What to expect

The festival is built around experiencing science yourself. The program has stages, demonstration stations, workshops and lectures. At the demo stations you can experiment, try modern technology and watch unusual phenomena up close. The organisers’ own examples include playing music on gingerbread, seeing the world through a robot’s eyes, finding out what is hidden in a drop of water, and looking inside the human body without a scalpel. Themed stages include a stage on the mind and emotions (Scena Psychiki) and a stage on explaining how the world works (Scena Wyjaśniania Rzeczywistości). Most activities are open with the free festival ticket, and only selected main workshops need separate registration.

Who it’s for

The festival is aimed at the general public, including curious individuals, families, school groups, students and science enthusiasts. Organised groups have their own registration.