From Deluge to Discovery: Space Festival Lifts Off Despite Devastating Flooding

SpaceFest, the annual Science Week celebration held at the National Space Centre outside Midleton, is set to blast off on Sunday for a week-long exploration of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths.) The festival is a partnership between the NSC and Greywood Arts, which was devastated as Storm Babet swept through Killeagh in East Cork.

The NSC’s iconic 32-meter dish under which the festival will take place was undamaged, though local roads were flooded and the site was cut off from access at points. But Greywood Arts’ newly refurbished arts centre and education space were deluged by 85cm of water, which flooded studios and destroyed equipment used for the festival’s installations at the NSC. 

Jessica Bonenfant, Creative Director at Greywood, said “Science Week’s theme of HUMAN has been the perfect springboard for exploring the intersection of space science and performance art. We’ve asked people to imagine the planet of their dreams to create a spectacular immersive experience for visitors that we hope will inspire further learning and reflection about our place in the universe.”

Last year’s SpaceFest welcomed over 1,600 participants and the organisers are expecting even higher numbers for this year’s expanded schedule of 8 events over nine days, including:

• Weekend tours of the facility and the SUPER art installation by artists-in-residence The Dahu Collective, plus work by local school children, video installations and a specially curated gallery of astronomy photographs;
• Online mixology workshop with astrophysicist and cocktail connoisseur Dr Alfredo Carpineti, who will teach participants to mix a drink based on the taste of a newly found nebula;
• A Saturday night live music gig in Killeagh featuring the aptly named Celestials, who will be playing a fundraiser at Greywood Arts.

The full programme of events is at https://spacefest.ie/ and tickets for all events are free thanks to funding from Science Foundation Ireland. Booking is essential.

“SpaceFest is the only event each year where we open to the public,” commented Rory Fitzpatrick, National Space Centre’s CEO. “It’s an incredible place that really comes to life during the Festival with creativity, art, science and crowds of curious space enthusiasts. It’s great to be able to bring the community together again despite the challenges of Babet.”

Space Fest is supported by Science Foundation Ireland’s Science Week funding with STEAM education support from Cork County Council.