National STEM Festival Goes Global: London Debut Set for May 2027

By Grace Kim

Up to 40 students will present their work in London in May 2027, when the National STEM Festival holds its first international edition — and their travel and accommodations will be paid.

The U.K. event, announced by the educational media company Explr, is open to students aged 13 to 19 from England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland. Applications close November 22. As with the U.S. festival, organizers say the goal is making STEM fields accessible to students from a wide range of communities and backgrounds.

"Very much like the U.S. has federal government participation, one of our events is taking place at the House of Lords," says Jenny Buccos, Explr cofounder and CEO. Students will also meet a range of potential mentors and supporters.

The takeaway: this is a deliberate export of a model that already works in Washington, D.C., not a one-off experiment.

Where did the festival come from?

The event launched in 2023 as the National STEM Challenge, with a stated goal of attracting students to technical fields — including those who wouldn't necessarily have seen themselves as traditional science types. Roughly three years later, the annual gathering in Washington, D.C., draws students from across the country to present innovative projects.

Beyond the exhibits, the festival connects students with business leaders and public officials. Those relationships help students figure out what science careers might look like and how to take their projects further — whether that means additional research or filing for intellectual property protection.

"We've been able to connect students with leaders and mentors and just bigger opportunities, so that they could develop their ideas even further," says Kari Byron, who cofounded Explr and is a former cast member of TV's MythBusters.

What are students actually building?

Past U.S. projects have ranged from the practical to the unexpected:

• A machine that recycles waste plastic into 3D printing filament
• A pill-counting app aimed at pharmacies with limited resources that lack traditional pill-counting machines

At the June 2026 festival, about 42% of projects involved artificial intelligence to some degree, according to Explr data. Only about 13.6% were primarily focused on AI and machine learning itself — a gap that suggests students aren't simply chasing the latest trend.

"The projects are increasingly showing us what young people believe is worth solving," Buccos says.

The numbers say student work uses AI as a tool far more often than it studies AI as a subject.

What skills do students take home?

The festival invests in communication as much as science. Students receive help with networking and presenting their ideas, including through a science networking course offered by the festival, Buccos says. Some participants have discussed their work on a podcast.

"We're trying to go back and give them the skills that they can carry with them throughout their life, even if they choose to not go into a STEM career," she says. "Being able to express your ideas and adjust it to an audience is really, really important."

The students also build their own networks. "They started as strangers, and by the end, these kids are dancing, they're singing Taylor Swift songs together," Byron says. Participants stay digitally connected after returning home, and some have come back to coach the next cohort and give feedback on the festival itself.

In plain words: the event's alumni pipeline is starting to feed the event itself.

How big could this get?

The U.S. and U.K. won't be the only stops. Plans are underway for a festival in Guadalajara, Mexico, in November 2027, and Explr is in early discussions about a regional festival in the United Arab Emirates focused on the Middle East and North Africa.

Buccos frames the ambition in sporting terms. "The idea is, we have the Olympics every four years," she says. "Why aren't we having innovation summits like this for young people?"

With London booked, Guadalajara scheduled and the UAE in early talks, Explr has moved from hosting a science fair to building an international circuit — and the November 22 U.K. application deadline will be its first real test of foreign demand.