{"id":686126,"date":"2026-05-22T10:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/686126\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:12:11","slug":"astrofest-a-weekend-of-celebrating-astronomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/686126\/","title":{"rendered":"AstroFest &#8211; a weekend of celebrating astronomy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On May 30-31, 2026, the Plan\u00e9tarium opens its doors wide to host AstroFest, THE annual gathering for people who are passionate about the Universe! Under the theme \u201cLiving in Space\u201d, Espace pour la vie invites you to the 6th edition of this free event, which takes place in a highly festive atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-80707\" class=\"wp-image-80707 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Observation-Lune-Photo-Ville-de-Montreal-Espace-pour-la-vie-Mathieu-Rivard-e1779313100251.webp\" alt=\"AstroFest\" width=\"399\" height=\"278\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-80707\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Ville de Montr\u00e9al \u2013 Espace pour la vie (Mathieu Rivard)<\/p>\n<p>A rich and diverse program<br \/>Take part in dozens of free activities offered by the Plan\u00e9tarium team and more than twenty professional astronomy partners. Scientific activities and challenges for the whole family during the day as well as lectures, telescope viewings, and a DJ in the evening, there\u2019s something for everyone whether you\u2019re looking to take up astronomy, have fun, or expand your knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>Life in space<br \/>For decades, humanity has maintained a continuous presence in space. Today, the hope of a possible return to the Moon\u2014or even to more distant horizons\u2014is rekindling our desire for space exploration. At the same time, our ever-deeper understanding of exoplanets allows us to imagine other habitable worlds.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-80708\" class=\"wp-image-80708\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Fusee-a-eau-Photo-Ville-de-Montreal-Espace-pour-la-vie-Eva-Blue-300x208.webp\" alt=\"AstroFest\" width=\"400\" height=\"278\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-80708\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Ville de Montr\u00e9al \u2013 Espace pour la vie (Eva Blue)<\/p>\n<p>A LOOK AT THE PROGRAM<br \/>Saturday, May 30 \u2013 10 am to 10 pm<br \/>Sunday, May 31 \u2013 Noon to 5 pm<\/p>\n<p>Free science activities for the whole family<br \/>A wide range of activities to choose from: creative workshops, information booths, mindboggling interactive experiences, stargazing, and much more!<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Build your own Mars Mobile<br \/>Build a robot to transport a sample of Martian rock to the rocket using a few simple materials and your imagination.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Water rockets<br \/>Using a soda bottle, build and decorate your rocket, then launch it into the sky and bring it back home to continue your experiments.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">The great stamp hunt<br \/>Go on a stamp hunt with a little travel journal in hand and make sure you don\u2019t miss a thing at AstroFest.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, May 30, from 6 pm to 9 pm<br \/>Talks<br \/>The first comprehensive analysis of an asteroid, the discovery of exoplanets, and Canada\u2019s role in space exploration are just a few of the fascinating topics that will be covered in talks given by several astronomy experts at the Chaos Theatre.<\/p>\n<p>Short lectures and fun interactive quizzes will also be hosted throughout the evening at the AstroBistro, in a cozy and friendly atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-80712\" class=\"wp-image-80712\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Guimauves-Photo-Ville-de-Montreal-Espace-pour-la-vie-Mathieu-Rivard-e1779313143903-300x172.webp\" alt=\"AstroFest\" width=\"400\" height=\"230\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-80712\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Ville de Montr\u00e9al \u2013 Espace pour la vie (Mathieu Rivard)<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, May 30, from 9 pm to midnight<br \/>Marshmallows, music, and telescopes<br \/>The hugely popular \u201cMarshmallows and Telescopes\u201d event is back! Come roast marshmallows between two stargazing sessions through the telescope. Enjoy an immersive experience combining music and astronomic imagery, hosted by a DJ in the Chaos Theatre.<\/p>\n<p>In case of bad weather, outdoor activities will be cancelled.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/calendrier.espacepourlavie.ca\/rouge-2100-a-martian-adventure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">ROUGE 2100<\/a>\u00a0exhibition is free of charge during AstroFest, from 9 am to midnight on Saturday, and from noon to 5 pm on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The regular (paid) performance schedule at the Plan\u00e9tarium\u2019s theatres will continue throughout AstroFest.<\/p>\n<p>To see the full list of activities, visit:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/calendrier.espacepourlavie.ca\/astrofest-2026-life-in-space-994692\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">AstroFest 2026 \u2013 Life in Space<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On May 30-31, 2026, the Plan\u00e9tarium opens its doors wide to host AstroFest, THE annual gathering for people&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":686127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,251385,852,10095,2338,194897,66,306],"class_list":["post-686126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-espace-pour-la-vie","tag-family","tag-live-events","tag-montreal","tag-planetarium","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}