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Mark your calendars:

The next IdeaFestival Bowling Green will be

in person at WKU on 

February 16, 2022!

9:00 am - 3:00 pm CT

Tickets $15

Open to school groups AND individuals

Schools receive one free chaperone ticket for every 10 students

Registration will open on December 2

Payment will be due by January 14. 

For more info, see our FAQ page.

 

Please add me to the IFBG mailing list

 

Now in our ninth year, IdeaFestival Bowling Green is an annual one-day celebration of ideas and imagination designed to inspire the next generation of creators, thinkers, and innovators. Hosted by The Center for Gifted Studies at WKU  since 2014 and created in cooperation with the original IdeaFestival® in Louisville, our event brings passionate and motivated middle and high school students and interested community members from throughout the region to the WKU campus for a morning of speaker sessions and an afternoon of minds-on, hands-on activities. The whole day highlights innovation, curiosity, entrepreneurship, community engagement, and creativity across a variety of fields. 

IdeaFestival Bowling Green: just imagine the ideas that will transform the future of our region.

IFBG Speakers 2022

 

 

 

IFBG Activities 2022

• virtual reality with WKU's new XR Lab

• 3D printing pens from the WKU Small Business Accelerator

• creating and building with the Warren County Public Library Idea Lab

• technology for those with visual impairment from American Printing House for the Blind
  

• hands-on biology with Dr. Keith Phillips

• a letterpress from WKU chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design

• mural-painting with artist Andee Rudloff

• computer activities with teacher Jennifer Pemberton

• Speaker Chats with all of the morning's guests

• STEM activities with the Kentucky Science Center

• geology with Professor Margaret Crowder

• creative writing with Scholastic National Student Poet Christian Butterfield

• dance with WKU's National Dance Education Organization

• entrepreneurial lessons fromKentucky’s Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs   

• typewriters, letterpress, and stamps from artist Leslie Nichols

• engineering with WKU's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  

• art and poetry with WKU's Blaq Art Nouveau

• entrepreneurship with Accelerate Kentucky

... and more to come!

 

Speakers | Minds-on, Hands-on Activities | Sponsors |  
Past Festivals | About | FAQ 
Pandemic Online Learning Materials

 

     

 

What is IdeaFestival Bowling Green? Watch below! 
Video courtesy of Vid Monster Productions.

  

 

 

IdeaFestival Bowling Green 2022 Sponsors

To learn more about sponsorship levels and possibilities, contact Erika Solberg at erika.solberg@wku.edu or 270-745-3015.  

Major Sponsor 

 

The Vid Monster vision is to redefine the consumer's experience, one city at a time, through effective creative content and promotional solutions, and to capture and share the special moments that happen within our community. We are a video production and photography company that focuses on telling stories in new and innovative ways. From small business and corporate, to weddings and special moments, to music videos and documentaries, we can create it all.

 

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Supporting Sponsor

Incorporated in 1935, the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce is a 5-Star Accredited Chamber by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and was named the 2009 Chamber of the Year by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. As the fourth largest chamber in Kentucky, the Chamber serves as a premier business advocate for its more than 1,200 partners and is the driving force for economic development in South Central Kentucky. Its primary goals are to promote growth and success in the business community, reaching its small business partners and those in large industries alike. With leadership programs, governmental relations projects, educational initiatives and involvement opportunities, the Chamber aims to support the community and its neighbors in order to enhance the business climate and continue to grow the region.

 

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Contributing Sponsor

 

The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky is a residential program for bright, highly motivated Kentucky high school students who have demonstrated interest in pursuing advanced careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Housed on the campus of Western Kentucky University, students take college classes, engage in faculty-led research, and have the ability to study abroad while living in a supportive community of like-minded peers.

In short, students in Kentucky can apply for our program during their sophomore year of high school, and if accepted, they will spend their junior and senior year on WKU’s main campus while remaining enrolled in their sending school. Furthermore, the tuition, meals and housing costs for our students are covered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, so any student in the state is eligible to apply if the program meets their interests and abilities.

Interested in learning more about The Gatton Academy’s application process? Visit us at https://www.wku.edu/academy/admissions/instructions/index.php.

 

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Read what participants said about IdeaFestival Bowling Green 2020:

• It was one of the best field trips I've ever had!

• The topics were intriguing and got me thinking about what should happen in the future.

• We loved that there were so many ideas represented from so many different disciplines.

• The speakers were all very excited to be speaking with us which led me to feel like we were an important audience.

• I really enjoyed painting the huge mural. I felt in the moment and focused on looking at the product afterward, and seeing it come together felt nice, especially knowing it couldn’t happen without all the different people coming together.

• It was super fun. I want to go next time too! 

 

 

The seventh annual IdeaFestival Bowling Green was February 11, 2020

Land and Legacy: Building Ideas That Will Last  

IFBG 2020 Highlight Video

Video courtesy of Vid Monster Productions.

 

For information on last year's virtual festival, visit the IFBG 2021 page.