Curious Histories Fest
Curious Histories Fest is the Science History Institute’s annual celebration of science, history, exploration, and experimentation.
Curious Histories Fest 2024: Color Your World
Inspired by our BOLD: Color from Test Tube to Textile exhibition, our second annual festival was held on Saturday, June 8, 2024.
The festival was packed with family activities, hands-on crafts, engaging talks, and live dyeing demos. Our museum featured special collections showcasing strange and wondrous color and dye histories. The day also included food trucks, special guests, and live music.
Activity Highlights
- arts & crafts with Fleisher’s Color Wheels
- colorful artmaking with Fleisher Art Memorial and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
- introduction to sustainable fashion with Pennsylvania Fibershed and Circular Philadelphia
- sustainable clothing and fabric painting activity with Touch Threads
- natural dyeing with the Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers
- colorful memory sharing with our Distillations podcast team
- vibrant pop-up displays from our special collections
- hands-on dyeing and sun printing activities—crafts to take home!
- presentations on the history of natural dyes and fibers
- and much more!
Food and Drink
- colorful herbal tea tastings with Oma Herbal Teas
- Siddiq’s Water Ice
- Bonjour Crêperie food truck
- Dodo Bakery food truck
- La Llamita Vegana food truck
Music
- Vinyl Tap 215 Founder DJ DuiJi Mshinda
- wild4music DJ Patrick Smith
Curious Histories Fest is open to all ages. Admission and programs are free; food trucks are pay-as-you-go. No reservations are necessary.
Curious Histories Fest 2023: A Taste of Water
The theme of our inaugural festival, “A Taste of Water,” featured a daylong celebration of the water in your world. Held on Saturday, June 10, 2023, more than 350 visitors enjoyed free hands-on activities and family-friendly fun, as well as exciting talks, tours, and highlights from our special collections.
Major funding for Curious Histories Fest is provided by chief presenting sponsor the Bolte Family Foundation.
Additional support provided by sustaining sponsors American Chemical Society, Dow, and Arkema Inc.; and contributing sponsor Dr. Zhen Yang, YM American Academy.