ALPENA — Science is the star of two events this April.

Through the rest of April, Michigan State University is hosting its Science Festival with different events across Michigan. In Alpena, there will be two events, one at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the other at Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan.

From 6-8 p.m. Thursday, the sanctuary will host a cinematic tour of NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary System.

“We invite people to come explore the sanctuary system through film. Free popcorn, of course, a good cross section of the amazing and natural resources that lie under America’s waters,” Media Outreach Coordinator Stephanie Gandulla said.

She said sanctuary officials were at the festival kickoff event in Lansing Friday to discuss the tools archaeologists use to explore shipwrecks and to give the people the chance to take a virtual dive.

Today they are in Lansing to talk to people about the sanctuary and to do a presentation about the two shipwrecks discovered this summer.

“It really is a statewide endeavor to get students and families excited about science,” Gandulla said.

The event at Besser Museum will take place 6-8 p.m. on April 20. The museum will celebrate Statewide Astronomy Night with telescope observation, planetarium shows, and astronomy activities. There are hands-on activities planned and people will be able to use the telescopes.

“The Science Festival is 17 days in April and MSU sponsors the science festival. We want to give an opportunity to hear from faculty members and students at MSU who study the sciences and research the sciences and teach the sciences,” Communications Manager Carla Hills said. It started six years ago. What we do is we have so many offerings it appeals to everyone.”

She said organizers try to give everyone the opportunity to see something that appeals to them and everything is free. She said they were happy to have the sanctuary and Besser Museum involved.

“This is another dimension of the science festival, we wanted to reach people in all parts of Michigan and how meaningful science and what it means to their area and all of Michigan and how it contributes to the Great Lakes. So we also be able to work with people in the community and give them interested of in what Thunder Bay has to offer,” Hills said.

For more information about individual events, log on to sciencefestival.msu.edu.

Jordan Spence can be reached via email at jspence@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687.