The Science Museum prepares for a jam-packed summer with the permanent return of hands-on gaming zone Power Up; the opening of the brand-new Engineers gallery; and the return of the Great Exhibition Road Festival – all this alongside the extension of Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination to 20 August 2023. The autumn will also see world-first exhibition Turn It Up: The power of music open at the Science Museum, after its successful opening run at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, inviting visitors to make some music and discover its impact on us.

Opening on Friday 23 June, Engineers is an ambitious new gallery dedicated to world-changing engineering innovations and the diverse and fascinating range of people behind them. It will celebrate our engineering heritage and showcase innovations through the global lens of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and its winners. The opening of Engineers marks a decade of transformation of the Science Museum’s public spaces, joining award-winning permanent galleries, and located adjacent to Technicians: The David Sainsbury Gallery, which opened in November 2022.

After five successful seasons, the interactive gaming zone Power Up will make its permanent return to the Science Museum from Saturday 27 July. Visitors will be able to try over 160 consoles and hundreds of video games, and undertake a journey through five decades of gaming, from Pong to the PlayStation 5.

At the ‘eye-opening, captivating and at times wildly uplifting’ (Manchester Wire) Turn It Up: The power of music visitors will be able to discover their inner music-maker while learning about the science behind music, how technology is changing the way it is made and enjoyed, and how music is being used to have an impact on the way we live our lives. This hands-on exhibition provides visitors with a chance to play with beat, melody and harmonies in a specially commissioned musical playground. Turn It Up: The power of music closes in Manchester on Sunday 21 May and will open in London on Thursday 19 October.

These new and vibrant spaces reveal the fundamental, but often unseen, STEM principles that make up our everyday lives. They explore the intersection of creativity, artistry and science. A fitting accompaniment, the museum’s blockbuster exhibition Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination, now extended and available to book through to 20 August, explores how scientists and science fiction creators – artists, film-makers, authors and more – have inspired each other through innovation and imagination.

Visitors can also secure their tickets to the Great Exhibition Road Festival’s return to South Kensington from Saturday 17 – Sunday 18 June. The packed weekend of free events, for all ages, celebrates how awe and wonder can spark innovation in science and the arts. As part of the festival the Science Museum will be hosting a range of free hands-on workshops and fascinating talks.

Additionally, summer tickets go on sale today for Science Museum favourites, including Wonderlab: The Equinor Gallery and Fly Zone alongside stunning 3D documentary films in IMAX: The Ronson Theatre.