NI Science Festival

What NI Science Festival does

NI Science Festival is a registered charity (NIC100332) and non-profit event organization founded in 2014, headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It operates an annual February science festival — the 2026 edition ran 10-21 February and delivered 350+ events across 90+ venues, attracting 59,000 attendees including 5,000+ school pupils across 173 schools. Programming covers science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) through talks, workshops, exhibitions, film screenings, and interactive experiences for all ages, with year-round extensions including the Science Café monthly series, Maps & Memories heritage project, Maritime Festival programming, and the FameLab UK science communication competition.

The organization runs on a small core team of approximately 6 employees plus a board of trustees, and does not develop proprietary technology — its platform is the event programme itself, delivered through a website, Mailchimp email communications, and a multi-platform social media presence across Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, X, and TikTok. Ticketing is administered through the Visit Belfast box office system with a £1 per-order booking fee, supplemented by partner venue box offices including MAC Belfast, National Museums NI, Armagh Planetarium, and others.

Revenue is generated through three primary streams: public grant funding (from Department for the Economy, Department for Communities, Belfast City Council, Derry City & Strabane District Council, and The National Lottery Heritage Fund), ticket sales (with most events free or under £10, and approximately 45% of events free of charge), and corporate sponsorship (including Kainos, Almac, and Belfast Harbour). The business model is fundamentally that of a publicly-supported cultural institution rather than a commercial enterprise, with go-to-market executed through partnership-based programming with academic institutions (Queen's University Belfast, Ulster University, the Open University), cultural organizations (National Trust, Libraries NI, Film Hub NI), and government bodies across Northern Ireland.

Name

NI Science Festival

Legal name

NI Science Festival

Website

https://nisciencefestival.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

NI Science Festival is a registered charity that delivers an annual February science festival across 90+ venues in Northern Ireland, reaching 59,000 attendees and 173 schools with 350+ STEAM-focused events, funded by government grants, ticket sales, and corporate sponsorship.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Science Events and Engagement

akta.pro primary industry

Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Academic & Scientific Conferences (MPAGAGAD), Training, Workshops & Certification Events (MPAGAGAJ)

Keywords

• Public science events
• STEAM education programming
• Community heritage projects
• Science communication festivals
• School outreach workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Belfast

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Primary revenue from government bodies and lottery funding including Department for the Economy, Department for Communities, Belfast City Council, Derry City & Strabane District Council, and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
2. Ticket Sales: Revenue from paid events with ticket prices ranging from free to approximately £45. Box office administered through Visit Belfast with £1 booking fee per order.
3. Corporate Sponsorship: Support from corporate sponsors including Kainos, Almac, and Belfast Harbour.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

NI Science Festival is an annual science festival held each February across Northern Ireland, delivering over 250 events at 90+ venues covering science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). The festival features talks, workshops, exhibitions, film screenings, and interactive experiences for all ages, complemented by a year-round Schools Programme, the Maps & Memories heritage project, Science Café, Maritime Festival programming, and FameLab UK science communication competition.

Product overview

NI Science Festival is an annual science festival organization that delivers a major February event (10-21 February) featuring 300+ events across Northern Ireland. The festival focuses on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) through talks, workshops, exhibitions, and interactive experiences. Beyond the annual festival, the organization runs a Schools Programme with educational events for students, the Maps & Memories heritage project exploring Ordnance Survey history, Science Café monthly events featuring local science communicators, the Maritime Festival's Science Street programming, and the FameLab UK science communication competition. Digital content is available through video recordings of past events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Maps & Memories: A 2-year community heritage project marking 200 years since the first mapping survey began on Divis Mountain by the Ordnance Survey
• Maritime Festival
• Science Café
• FameLab UK

Products and services

• NI Science Festival Annual Event An annual science festival held each February across Northern Ireland, delivering 250+ events at 90+ venues focusing on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). The festival includes talks, workshops, exhibitions, film screenings, and interactive experiences for all ages.
• Schools Programme Year-round educational events and workshops designed for primary and secondary schools across Northern Ireland, delivering curriculum-linked STEAM activities and outreach visits. Reached 173 schools and 5,000+ school pupils in 2026.
• Maps & Memories A two-year community heritage project marking 200 years since the Ordnance Survey began mapping Ireland, exploring how Ireland's mapping shaped landscapes and lives through exhibitions, workshops, and guided walks in partnership with National Trust and Ordnance Survey NI.
• Science Café Monthly spotlight events featuring science communicators from Northern Ireland who share their research and expertise in engaging, accessible formats, with tickets priced at £2 per event.
• Maritime Festival (Science Street) Science Street programming at the Belfast Maritime Festival featuring experiments, demonstrations, and activities exploring marine research, biodiversity, and ocean science.
• FameLab UK A science communication competition held as part of the festival to find new voices in science, technology, engineering and maths, with regional winners advancing to the UK final at Cheltenham Science Festival.

Quantifiable outcome

• 59,000 attendees and 173 schools visited in 2026 alone
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• National TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 September 2025Key partner in Maps & Memories project exploring 200 years of Ordnance Survey mapping heritage. Provides venues including Divis Mountain and Minnowburn.
• Ordnance Survey NIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 September 2025Core partner for Maps & Memories heritage project, providing mapping archives and expertise on 200 years of surveying history.
• Libraries NIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partner hosting Maps & Memories exhibition touring libraries across Northern Ireland through June 2027.
• Department for the EconomycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Government department providing core funding for the festival as one of Northern Ireland's key STEAM initiatives.
• Belfast City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Local government body providing funding and support for festival activities in Belfast.
• Tourism Northern IrelandcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2014National tourism organization promoting Northern Ireland as a destination and supporting festival promotion.
• Queen's University BelfastcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Major academic partner providing research expertise, speakers, venues, and academic credibility to festival programmes including Maps & Memories and FameLab.
• Ulster UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Academic partner supporting festival events with research expertise, student involvement, and venue access.
• Derry City & Strabane District CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Local government partner providing funding for festival activities in the North West region.
• Institute of PhysicscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Professional body partner supporting physics-related events including Bargain Basement Physics workshops for teachers.
• Film Hub NImajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Film industry body supporting NISF Young Film Programme for developing regional film programmers aged 18-28.
• Visit BelfastcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2014Primary box office partner handling ticket sales with £1 booking fee per order. Promotes festival to tourists and visitors.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cambridge Science Festival: University-led annual science festival in Cambridge with talks, demonstrations, and a schools programme. Comparable in university-anchored programming, free and paid events mix, and STEAM public engagement mission.
• Manchester Science Festival: Lead delivery by the Science and Industry Museum, Manchester. Comparable in scale (>100 events), multi-venue city-wide model, family and schools focus, and reliance on cultural and public funding partners.
• Science Gallery (Trinity College Dublin / King's College London): University-affiliated science engagement venues running exhibitions and events targeting young adults. Comparable in blending STEAM content with cultural/heritage framing and university partnerships, although operates year-round rather than annually.
• Cheltenham Science Festival: Major UK science festival run as part of Cheltenham Festivals, with talks, workshops, and family events. Highly comparable operating model including FameLab UK national final, which connects directly to NISF's FameLab regional heats.
• British Science Festival: The British Science Association's flagship annual science festival, hosted in a different UK city each year. Comparable in mission, programme breadth (academic talks, public engagement, schools events), and reliance on university and grant funding.
• Oxford Science Festival: University-led biennial science festival with a strong schools' outreach strand. Comparable in academic partnership model, talks/workshops format, and STEAM public engagement mission.
• Edinburgh Science Festival: One of the UK's largest science festivals, delivering a multi-week annual programme of science events across Edinburgh. Directly comparable to NISF in model: annual festival, multi-venue, STEAM-focused, schools programme, government and corporate funding.

Regional players

• W5: Belfast-based interactive science and discovery centre, and a listed partner of NISF. Highly relevant as the leading STEM engagement venue in Northern Ireland, with overlapping school audiences and family programming, though it operates as a permanent venue rather than a festival.

Broad incumbents

• The Big Bang (EngineeringUK): UK-wide STEM engagement programme culminating in the Big Bang Fair, with strong schools and young-people focus. Comparable in targeting schools, teacher CPD, and STEAM career pathways, though at significantly larger national scale.
• Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition: Annual flagship public showcase of cutting-edge UK research. Comparable in mission (public engagement with research, academic partnerships, talks and demonstrations), though operates as a single-venue event rather than a regional festival.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/niscifest
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCJAVlecsnzpbIvHrMu116Xg
• Facebookfacebook.com/NISCIFEST
• Instagraminstagram.com/niscifest
• TikToktiktok.com/@niscifest
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ni-science-festival

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles21 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NI Science Festival