Beaker Street Festival Announces 2025 Program

This 12–19 August, Beaker Street Festival returns to transform Lutruwita/Tasmania into a stage for wild ideas, boundary-pushing conversations, and deeply human experiences. With more than 70 events across Hobart and beyond, the 2025 program dives headfirst into the themes of death, pleasure and humanity " asking what it means to live well, die better, connect deeper, and stay curious in an increasingly complex world.

"This year, we're reclaiming the parts of ourselves that feel most at risk of being lost in this age of distraction " our wonder, our pleasure, our attention spans, our connection to nature and to each other," says Festival Founder and Creative Director Dr Margo Adler. "We want to remind people that science isn't just learning facts " it's about feeling, experiencing, and connecting. It invites us to explore big ideas, expand our perspective, and share moments that bring people together." 

From high-energy headliners and nerdy pub nights to immersive field trips and after-dark adventures, the program blends scientific discovery with pleasure, provocation, and play.

MAIN STAGE

Beaker Street's signature stage at Hobart City Hall returns with a jam-packed schedule of headline talks, performance events and raucous debate. In Come Again? An Evening of Sex and Science, a cast of sultry scientists and pleasure experts (including Dr Natasha Vavrek, Adrienne Cobcroft and Dr Tiana Pirtle) guide the audience into the science of better sex " featuring a giant clitoris puppet and peer-reviewed innuendo. Meanwhile, Human Love Quest: Your Chemical Romance! brings Melbourne's cult nerd-dating show to Hobart for the first time, inviting three hopefuls to compete for love live onstage.

Elsewhere, death experts Bec Lyons, Tui Davidson, and Luke Cripps lead a surprisingly buoyant conversation in No One's Getting Out of Here Alive, joined by Theresa Sainty and Dr Zoe Rimmer who contribute insights into Tasmanian Aboriginal beliefs and rituals around death. Meanwhile, What's Your p(Doom)? asks whether AI will save or enslave us, featuring comedian Michael Hing and computer scientist Professor Toby Walsh, and Dr Karl returns for a headline solo show.

In Beyond the Stars: Seeing the Sky Through Aboriginal Eyes, astrophysicist and Wiradjuri woman Dr Kirsten Banks unpacks Western and Aboriginal constellations to reveal the profound knowledge embedded in the night sky. While Chasing Auroras brings together scientists, photographers, and stargazers to explore why Tasmania is one of the world's best places to witness the Southern Lights " and how to do it right.

The Festival's flagship trivia spectacular " The Beaker Street Game Show, hosted by Myf Warhurst " sees Australia's science glitterati battle it out in a quiz that's equal parts chaos and curiosity. Finally, The Beaker Street Debate, sees Natasha Mitchell (ABC Radio National) wrangle two teams of scientists and cultural commentators for a tongue-in-cheek face-off on civilisational collapse " recorded for Radio National's Big Ideas.

LGBTQIA+

This year's queer-led programming embraces sex-positivity, joy and radical inclusivity. After Hours: The Nightclub transforms City Hall into a raunchy dance floor full of medically accurate debauchery. Around the corner, Youth Arts and Recreation Centre hosts AMA, a free, youth-curated party with DJ sets, peer educators, and room for all the letters of the alphabet (including allies).

FIELD TRIPS, WORKSHOPS + DINNERS

All across Tasmania, the Festival invites audiences to move, make, forage and feast. Biologist Dr Lisa Gershwin leads Anything Glows, a nocturnal walk through Hobart's glowing wildlife using UV torches. At Tunnel Hill, Dean Smith and Tim Murch host a mushroom-growing masterclass inside a disused railway tunnel, complete with tastings fresh off a vintage train-BBQ.

Join Pete Walsh " the Platypus Guardian " for a riverside wildlife walk. Meet slime moulds with naturalist Sarah Lloyd in one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Get behind the scenes at Sea Forest, a pioneering seaweed farm combatting methane emissions, or follow University of Tasmania Senior Indigenous Scholar Theresa Sainty to Kunanyi to learn about Wurangkili Liwari Nipaluna / night sky of Hobart.

Death Over Drinks invites festival-goers to step into the stillness of The Still and embrace the most underrated conversation topic of all " death. Facilitated by funeral directors, doulas, water cremation specialists, human composting advocates and Tasmanian Aboriginal knowledge holders, this event lets you wander from table to table to engage in frank, curious and life-affirming conversations about the end of life.

Food and drink events include the highly anticipated Dark Sky Dinner, combining a candlelit feast at Frogmore Creek Winery with stargazing and telescope tours and space talks from Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths and Dr Karelle Siellez. Meanwhile, Dr Karl, Professor Robyn Williams and other beloved science voices will take a seat at the table in a series of thought-provoking dinners hosted in the exquisite Hadley's Atrium.

Taste of Country: ningina palawa kipli piyura kitina-ta, is an immersive bush tucker experience led by respected Palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal) guide Kitana Mansell. Hosted on Country at Piyura Kitina / Risdon Cove, this cultural gathering blends seasonal food knowledge, guided walking, and environmental care in a powerful celebration of connection, nourishment and regeneration.

HOBARTICA

Hobart's waterfront once again transforms into an immersive polar precinct. At the heart of it is the Seismic Dance Party, where real glacial data is converted into a full-body audio-visual rave " complete with haptic suits that let both Deaf and hearing audiences feel Antarctica's tectonic pulse.

Other returning favourites include wood-fired Finnish tent saunas and cold plunge pools. Finnish artist and sauna expert Nanna Bayer leads story-rich sauna sessions, while scientist and wellness teacher Dr Rebecca Chabot pairs breathwork with immersive polar rituals.

The full program of Hobartica events will be announced soon.

TMAG TAKEOVER

The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery hosts a vibrant program of late-night explorations and family-friendly science. TMAG After Dark brings together drinks, music and microscopes for an unforgettable evening, while Discovery Sunday invites families to explore Antarctic expeditions, butterfly trails and live demos.

Also on display: the CoLab student-art-and-science exhibition, and the 9th annual Science Photography Prize.

ROVING SCIENTISTS

Throughout the week, Beaker Street's iconic Roving Scientist Bar returns to the Hope & Anchor, Australia's oldest continuously licensed pub " with more than 150 of Australia's hottest emerging scientists, live music, microscopes, specimens, and all manner of the unexpected.

Throughout the week, the Festival offers an invitation to connect " especially with strangers. Selected events are marked "solo-friendly" to encourage coming alone and meeting someone new, and there'll be plenty of ways to meet. After all, what better place to find your soul mate than at a nerd fest? Think 70s-style dating shows, science-fuelled icebreakers, and non-app-based encounters for the romantically curious.

Beaker Street Festival is presented by Beaker Street, an independent not-for-profit cultural organisation building community through scientific understanding in Lutruwita/Tasmania.

Beaker Street Festival is supported by the following Major Partners: the Tasmanian Government through Events Tasmania, City of Hobart, the Australian Government as part of National Science Week, and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.