Cool Science Festival Is 2 Weeks Away — What COS Families Can Expect Oct 3–18

UCCS Carnival Day: October 3

The anchor event of the festival is UCCS Carnival Day on Saturday, October 3 — the opening day and by far the largest single-day family event of the entire festival. This is where you'll find interactive demos, hands-on experiments, science exhibitors, and the kind of festive energy that comes from a couple thousand curious kids descending on a college campus for a day of organized chaos in the best possible sense.

If you can only make one day of the festival, this is the one. It's free, it's outdoors (with some indoor components), and it gives kids a chance to try things — not just watch them. Previous years have featured everything from chemistry demonstrations to robotics to live animal encounters to engineering challenges. The specific programming for 2026 is listed at coolscience.org.

UCCS is located in the northern part of Colorado Springs. Parking is available on campus, and the carnival-style layout means the event is stroller and wheelchair accessible. Plan for crowds — this is one of the city's most well-attended family events of the fall season.

What to Expect Throughout the Festival

After Carnival Day, the Cool Science Festival continues through October 18 with programming at venues around COS. The format varies — some events are large public gatherings, others are small-group workshops with limited registration. Some are free with no sign-up required; others ask for registration in advance and may have a small fee.

The festival is designed to reach families who might not otherwise access structured STEM programming. Events are deliberately spread across different parts of the city, and many are hosted by community partners — libraries, recreation centers, and schools — which helps keep costs down and reach different neighborhoods.

School and homeschool groups can also register for programming through the festival's school event calendar, separate from the public family events. If you're coordinating programming for a group, coolscience.org has details on how to arrange that.

Why Register Early

The most popular hands-on workshops at the Cool Science Festival have a history of filling up well before the event date. UCCS Carnival Day itself doesn't require pre-registration, but some individual workshops and ticketed demonstrations during the festival run do. Checking the schedule now — two weeks out — gives you time to find the events your kids are most interested in and secure spots before they're gone.

The full event calendar is at coolscience.org. Registration for individual events is also handled through that site.

What's Next

Head to coolscience.org to browse the full 2026 event calendar and register for any events that require spots. If you want to keep it simple, put UCCS Carnival Day on October 3 on the calendar now — it's free, no registration required, and it's the best single day the festival has to offer. More information on specific venues and times will continue to be added to the site as the festival approaches.