The Maryland STEM Festival is prescribing a full month of health and wellness programming

The Maryland STEM Festival is set to kick off a month of programming, all organized around a theme that’s top-of-mind these days.

The annual event series will hold its opening ceremony virtually on Friday, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m. on the organization’s Facebook page.

This is the seventh year of the collection of events, which is held across the state to celebrate science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as inspire careers in those fields. This year’s programming is set to be offered on a hybrid model, with a mix of virtual and in-person events at parks and schools across Maryland. The vast majority of the events are free to attend.

The theme of the event this year is health and wellness, which is a hot topic for a couple of reasons.

“COVID has been dominating most of our lives the past year so we felt it appropriate to focus on that,” Phil Rogofsky, founder and executive director of the Maryland STEM Festival, told Technical.ly. “Additionally, healthcare and biotechnology are huge industries in Maryland. They’re very interwoven in the culture and economy.”

Johns Hopkins is a premier medical school in the nation and the Baltimore City’s biggest employer. It’s a prime example of how the healthcare industry permeates the life of the region.

The STEM Festival events kicking off in Baltimore for the first weekend are as follows:

• B&O Railroad Museum‘s Bridge Engineer Workshop: 1 p.m. on Oct. 15
• Chemistry in the Library: Fast or Slow…Chemistry Makes It. This event starts at 2 p.m. on Oct. 16 the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s central branch, located at 400 Cathedral St.
• Raaz: A Multimedia Bio-art Installation will be held on Oct. 16 from 5-7pm at the King, Cork, and Seal Building, located at 101 N. Haven Street in East Baltimore.
• The Fire Museum of Maryland in Baltimore County’s Lutherville Timonium will hold an event on the science of fire safety on Oct 16 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

These are just a few of the 250+ events happening this month. They’re all listed on the Maryland STEM Festival site.

“Take a look and see what interests you,” said Rogofsky. “Learn, explore and have fun. Our events are family oriented and give people the opportunity to explore different areas of STEM.”