Melbourne's science museum is throwing a lightning show and calling it a festival

Scienceworks in Spotswood is spending the weekend firing up a Tesla coil, and somehow branding it a festival rather than "the thing that terrified you in high school physics."

The Science is a Superpower Festival lands Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September, running 10am to 3pm both days. It's the museum's third go at this, and if the online series it's based on is any guide, nearly five million views across two seasons, they're onto something.

The headline act is the Lightning Theatre, where the resident Tesla coil throws real bolts while presenters explain what's actually happening. It's the kind of demo that draws bigger crowds of adults than kids, and nobody should feel weird about that.

If lightning isn't your speed, the Planetarium is running meditation sessions under a projected night sky, followed by a go on the harmonograph to turn your calm into actual artwork. Frankly, it's a better use of a Saturday than most brunch bookings.

Elsewhere it's a full STEM buffet. Sportsworks has you racing a digital Cathy Freeman and testing your vertical leap. The newly renamed Space Lab covers plants grown in orbit and research happening on the International Space Station. Beyond Perception gets into gravitational waves and invisible light. And the amphitheatre is running show-terviews, basically scientists telling their career stories without the usual panel discussion stiffness.

The festival is built around ten themes, curiosity, kindness, calmness, energy, strength, connection, perception, adaptation, ingenuity and resilience, and while it was designed to get girls and non-binary kids into STEM, nobody is checking IDs at the door. Bring whoever you want, including yourself, unaccompanied by a child, if that's the vibe.

Best part, it's included with regular museum entry. Adults $15, seniors $12, under 16s and concession free, and free if you're already a member.

Grab entry through the Scienceworks ticket page and get there early. If the lightning demo has a queue by lunchtime, that's on you.