Bay Area Science Festival 2026 for Kids: What to See and When

Once a year, UCSF opens its Mission Bay campus to anyone who wants to touch, build, launch or look through a microscope at something. The Bay Area Science Festival, now in its 13th year, is on Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 11am to 4pm on and around Koret Quad. It is free, there are no tickets, and it goes ahead rain or shine. Organizers expect about 15,000 people and more than 125 hands-on exhibits, so a little planning goes a long way with kids.

Koret Quad, UCSF Mission Bay · Sat Oct 17, 11am–4pm · Free, no registration · bayareasciencefestival.org · Our event listing

What to See with Kids

The Hands-on Stuff (All Day)

Most of the festival is tables and tents run by scientists, students and science groups, and the point is to try things. Highlights the organizers are promising this year:

• Robot Zoo: drive robots through a maze, help one shoot a basketball, and talk to the student teams who built them. It is upstairs in the Mission Bay Conference Center.
• Inside the body: walk through a giant inflatable lung and colon, look at stem cells and blood cells under microscopes, build a skeleton, and try assembling a prosthetic leg.
• A mini volcano: a small Mount Shasta “eruption” with clouds of cornstarch ash and crispy-rice lava bombs.
• Archery physics (new this year): members of the USA National Archery Team show how it works with suction-cup arrows and long-range digital shooting.
• Optical illusions that show how your brain processes what you see, plus air rockets, live leopard sharks and a forensic science mystery to solve.

Outdoor Stage on Koret Quad

The outdoor stage sits in front of the Genentech Hall steps, and it is where younger kids will want to park for a bit:

• 11:45am: Drag STEM Storytime, with children’s book readings and a drag performance
• 12:45pm: Perception vs. Reality, a magic show
• 1:30pm: Wild Science, face to face with reptiles and amphibians
• 2:15pm: Magic That’s Actually Real, the STEM science magic show
• 3:15pm: the Tiny Rock band, songs about birds and other things on miniature instruments

Indoor Stage and Installations (Better for Older Kids)

The Sandler Stage, inside the Sandler Building, seats 150, first come first served. The picks for families are the 1pm 3 Minute Science, where UCSF PhD students race to explain their research in three minutes, and the 1:45pm talk by a wildlife cinematographer from KQED’s Deep Look on what butterflies, geckos and owls teach engineers. The day closes at 3:15pm with a live recording of the podcast That’s Absurd Please Elaborate, where experts answer ridiculous science questions.

New this year are two room-sized installations upstairs in the Mission Bay Conference Center, next to the Robot Zoo: an immersive whale soundscape (11am–2pm) and Luxtriplicata, a light installation (all day).

Lab Tours (Ages 12 and Up)

Free behind-the-scenes tours of UCSF labs leave at 12:30pm and 2:30pm, in small groups of 12 to 20. As of October 14 the festival lists every tour, and every waitlist, as full, so there is no way to get a spot now. If you did register, check in 40 minutes before your tour or you lose the spot, and kids 12 to 15 need a parent with them.

A Simple Plan for the Day

Aim to arrive near 11am and do the hands-on tables first while the kids have energy. Catch Drag STEM Storytime at 11:45 or the reptiles at 1:30, eat from the food trucks or a packed lunch on the lawn, then head indoors to the Robot Zoo and the light installation in the afternoon. With small children, two to three hours is plenty. If you have older kids who love it, stay for the 3:15 podcast.

Getting There

Muni Is the Easy Answer

The organizers encourage everyone to take transit because parking is limited. The T Third Street stop is about 230 meters from Koret Quad, one block from Chase Center, and the 22 Fillmore, 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express and 55 Dogpatch buses also serve the campus. From BART, get off at Powell and transfer to the T. From Caltrain, transfer to the T at 4th and King or walk 15 to 20 minutes. There is no special ferry service. Our guide to riding Muni and BART with kids covers fares and strollers.

Driving and Parking

4th Street is closed between 16th Street and Nelson Rising Lane from 8am to 6pm. The two closest garages are the UCSF Community Center Garage at 1625 Owens Street and the UCSF Third Street Garage at 1650 Third Street. Both cost $5 an hour with a $35 daily maximum, paid through the PayByPhone app. The Valkyries finals game is at Chase Center, one block away, the same day, and organizers warn that parking may be impacted, so allow extra time or, better, take Muni. Both garages have ADA spaces at a reduced $7 a day with a valid disabled placard.

Bikes

There are bike racks at Genentech Hall near Koret Quad, a bike enclosure and racks at the 1625 Owens garage, and an enclosure plus 16 lockers at the Third Street garage.

What to Bring (and What to Leave Home)

• Bring: a refillable water bottle (there are refill stations), layers for Mission Bay wind, and ear protection for noise-sensitive kids. It gets loud.
• Food: food trucks and nearby restaurants, or bring your own.
• Leave home: pets, alcohol, drones, smoking and vaping are not allowed.
• Accessibility: most exhibits are indoors or on paved paths, and the grass areas can be reached from a paved walkway around Koret Quad. Wheelchairs are not provided. ADA portable restrooms are on site, and there are restrooms inside the Mission Bay Conference Center and the Sandler Building.

The detailed festival map is now posted: festival map, or the printable PDF to save on your phone. It shows the outdoor stage on Koret Quad and the indoor stage in the Sandler Building, and the festival still says it runs rain or shine, so pack a layer either way.

Make a Day of It in Mission Bay

The Chase Center plaza next door, Thrive City, is free to wander. Our Chase Center with kids guide covers it. For more of this kind of day, see our best museums for kids, Exploratorium vs. Cal Academy and 25 free things to do with kids.

Date, hours, location and parking were confirmed with the festival organizers on October 1, 2026; the map, stage times, tours and parking were re-checked on the festival site on October 14, 2026. Schedule details come from bayareasciencefestival.org and the festival’s press release, and may change. Check the festival site before you go.