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2023 edition of La fête de la science

La Fête de la Science, an international science festival, is back for a third Canadian edition from November, 17 to 27, 2023. Organized by the Embassy of France in collaboration with a range of partners.

La Fête de la Science will bring together scientists, science communicators, and members of the public from across the country to celebrate and share their love of knowledge and science. The festival will feature conferences, discussions, exhibits and film screenings.

Canadian and French researchers will be on hand (in person or virtually) to share not only their work and discoveries, but also their passion and snapshots and stories from their day-to-day lives as scientists.

Overall, this is the 32nd edition of the Fête de la Science, and this year’s theme is Sport & Science; fitting, considering that the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games are fast approaching.

Sport holds an important place in today’s societies. Multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary at its essence, sport is remarkable for its ubiquity across society, the economy, the media and science.

Some highlights of this Canadian edition of La Fête de la Science:

On the subject of sport:

  • Thursday, November 23, 5 p.m.: Screening of the documentary A la recherche du sportif parfait by UBC’s Centre de la Francophonie, followed by a discussion with professors Jean-Sébastien Blouin, Jean Blouin and Valérie Bougault, from UBC, Aix-Marseille Université and the Université de la Côte d’Azur, respectively. All three are researchers in the field of neuroscience and physical activity.
  • Thursday, November 23, 5 p.m.: Screening of two short films at York University’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science: Episode 11 of the CBC documentary series: Inside an Athlete’s Head and Exile: The Burden of Memory. The screenings will be followed by a discussion around the theme “Laboratories of Resistance: Chilean Elite Athlete Activisms in the Dictatorship” with Professor Hernán Humana, Olympic athlete Melissa Humana-Paredes, producer of the second short film Hernán Morris, and Associate Professor Amanda De Lisio.
  • Sciences en bulles, exhibit and workshops on the book Sciences en bulles at various French establishments (Vancouver’s Cousteau French International School, the Toronto Lycée Français, the Toronto French School and Ottawa’s Lycée Claudel)
  • Thematic days on November 13th and 14th at Ottawa’s Lycée Claudel, in partnership with the University of Ottawa:
  • 7 workshops for 7 classes, led by Renée Morin, François Gravelle and students in sports sciences at uOttawa, as well as a conference for four 3rd-grade classes given by Alexandra Arellano on sport in Indigenous culture.
  • Tuesday, November 14, 5:45 to 6:45 p.m.: Conference open to the public titled “Le corps en mouvement, un monde à découvrir” (“the body in motion: a world to discover”) given by Renée Morin, along with recent graduates.

More generally:

  • Friday, November 17, 10 a.m.: Let’s Talk Climate (in)Justice, a hybrid conference hosted in collaboration with Toronto Metropolitan University’s SciXchange to raise awareness of climate issues. There will be a particular focus on wildfires, and a French expert, Toussaint Barboni, will be on hand to share his expertise.
  • Saturday, November 18, and Sunday, November 19: Screening, at the Manitoba Museum, of Explore (Saturday at 10:15 a.m.) and Légendes du Ciel du Nord (Sunday at 10:15 a.m.).
  • Sunday, November 19: Screening, at Halifax’s Discovery Centre, of the documentaries Beyond the Sun (11:20 a.m.) and Antarctica (1:20 p.m.). Both screenings will be in French.
  • Monday, December 4: Opening at the Université de Montréal of the 2nd edition of Chercheuses en BD, an exhibit produced in collaboration with 21 graphic novel artists who feature 21 women scientists and researchers from 13 Quebec universities in their work. The goal is to give women scientists, and women researchers in particular, greater visibility. The exhibit will then be touring universities across Quebec.

A full list of the Canadian events for La Fête de la Science is available on the event’s website.

The Embassy of France to Canada has partnered with notable people and organizations from across the country to make this year’s La Fête de la Science possible: Olympian Melissa Humana-Paredes, the University of British Columbia’s Centre de la Francophonie, York University, the Manitoba Museum, Toronto Metropolitan University’s SciXchange, and a number of French institutions in Canada (the Toronto French School, the Toronto Lycée Français, Ottawa’s Lycée Claudel, and Vancouver’s Cousteau French International School).

La Fête de la Science, a flagship event in France for the past 30-plus years

Organized by the French Ministry for Higher Education, Research and Innovation since 1991, La Fête de la Science has offered thousands of free, inventive and fun events to the general public. The festival is an opportunity to meet scientists, learn about the work of researchers, share knowledge, discover recent scientific advances, and discuss the major issues of the 21st century.

By allowing members of the public to get close to researchers and hear first-hand about their passion and curiosity for their work, La Fête de la Science helps people see science in a different way by connecting them with images, ideas, activities and emotions. Celebrating science is a way to share a common scientific culture and foster critical thinking. It’s also a way to promote reason and logic, investigative thinking, and experimentation, which are all at the heart of the scientific approach.