Downey to anchor City of STEM science festival

Ben Dickow holds promotional material for a prior City of STEM festival.

DOWNEY — City of STEM, the largest science festival in Greater Los Angeles, will return to the Columbia Memorial Space Center in April, organizers have announced.

The month-long, community-focused celebration of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), is composed of numerous events for all ages taking place throughout L.A. County from the dozens of partner organizations.

The series will kick off with a celebration Saturday, April 6, at the Downey space center. This event will feature indoor and outdoor activities, a live music stage, live demonstrations, food trucks, panel discussions, and more.

The day also integrates the activities of the international “Yuri’s Night, KIDS!” and will feature an in-person visit by an astronaut.

“City of STEM is a platform to unite the diversity of Greater Los Angeles, rallying the public around science and drawing attention to the region’s continued national importance in STEM research, education and industry, from aerospace to biotech,” said Ben Dickow, City of STEM organizer and president of the Downey space center.

“We will bring STEM activities to a variety of audiences, opening access to STEM throughout the region.”

The City of STEM science festival started in 2015 and is organized by the Columbia Memorial Space Center. This year’s event continues its trend of growing partners and increasing attendance.

Highlighted participating partners this year include Boeing, Ozobot, Yuri’s Night, City of Los Angeles, City of Downey, SpaceX, Aerojet-Rocketdyne, The Planetary Society, Virgin Orbit, JPL, and Financial Partners Credit Union.

“Los Angeles is an innovation incubator -- a place where the world comes to develop new ideas and pioneer groundbreaking technologies,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “City of STEM is an opportunity for L.A. to showcase a science, technology, and engineering ecosystem that is creating new opportunities every day and putting L.A. at the center of a global movement to envision tomorrow and build it today.”

City of STEM is recognized as L.A.’s official science fest by the Science Festival Alliance, the national organization dedicated to connecting and promoting unique STEM events.