For immediate release.

2024 Brings a Year of Adventures to Fernbank Museum

An Exploration of Spiders, Numbers in Nature, Armored Animals and more.

ATLANTA, JAN. 3, 2024 — Fernbank Museum moves into 2024 with a year of exciting special exhibits, Giant Screen films, themed Discovery Days, nighttime nature adventures, adult science nights and more.

Fernbank’s adventurous new year kicks off with a new giant screen film, “Angkor: The Lost Empire of Cambodia,” opening on Jan. 20, 2024. This film explores the rise and fall of Angkor, a medieval metropolis whose ruins are located deep in the Cambodian jungle.

February will bring guests eye-to-eyes with the special exhibit, “Spiders – From Fear to Fascination,” which runs from Feb. 10 – May 5, 2024. Boasting over 250 real spider specimens, “Spiders – From Fear to Fascination” will entangle guests in a web of knowledge about spider anatomy, reproduction and growth, webs and silk, spider senses and much more. Using the latest in augmented reality technology to create a fully immersive experience, the exhibit allows guests to experience walking through hundreds of scattering spiders along a glowing forest floor, bringing an animated spider to life, and even competing in a mating dance-off with a jumping peacock spider. Live spiders will give audiences an opportunity to see arachnids that they may not otherwise closely encounter, including the infamously venomous Black Widow.

In early summer, Fernbank will welcome the special exhibit, “A Mirror Maze: Numbers in Nature,” from June 8 – Sept. 9, 2024. This exhibit immerses guests in a life-size mirror maze, hands-on activities, engaging digital elements and more to shed light on patterns that abound in the natural world. Analyzing numbers and patterns to give a dizzying new perspective on reality, “A Mirror Maze: Numbers in Nature” will take a closer look at everything — from nested spirals of a sunflower’s seeds to the layout of the universe — so guests can discover a unique perspective of our daily surroundings. Activities range from drawing patterns on a digital screen and finding symmetrical patterns in your body to creating a musical scale using a playable harp and composing original music using symmetry.

Set to open Oct. 5, 2024, the fall exhibit, “Armored Animals,” invites guests to dive into the history of creatures that are connected by their use of armor. From fish to dinosaurs, hard-shelled mammals and more, guests will experience an impressive tour through the last 500 million years of armor evolution. Leading features of the exhibit include rarely seen early armored dinosaurs and their giant descendants. In addition, the giant predator "super croc,” Sarcosuchus, and its equally impressive American counterpart, Deinosuchus, will be on display. To bring the story of armor full circle, the exhibit explores human adaptations of animal armor protection and intimidation.

There will be a variety of family-friendly “Discovery Days” throughout 2024, as well as newly added nighttime events for adults and families, starting with “Spider Spectacle” on Feb. 10 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m, which is sponsored by Novelis. For visitors who are 21 and older, Fernbank will continue to host its popular adult science night, “Fernbank After Dark,” which takes place on the second Friday of every month, kicking off the new year on Jan. 12 with “Fernbank After Dark: New Year, New Energy.”

Fernbank’s illuminating, nighttime outdoor experience, “WildWoods: AGLOW,” will continue to invite patrons to journey into the magnificent, sometimes hidden worlds of nature through Feb. 25, 2024. Using captivating illumination, immersive projections and original musical compositions, “WildWoods: AGLOW” curates an innovative approach to storytelling that immerses visitors into the unique flora and fauna found in WildWoods. Additional special experiences and indoor and outdoor programming are set to be announced throughout 2024.

Visit FernbankMuseum.org for more information.

“Angkor: The Lost Empire of Cambodia” is produced by Helio Projects Asia and Definition Films. It is presented and distributed by K2 Studios in Giant Screen/IMAX theaters at museums and science centers worldwide. The film is sponsored locally in part by the Frances Wood Wilson Foundation, Inc.

“Spiders — From Fear to Fascination” was created by the Australian Museum.

“A Mirror Maze: Numbers in Nature” was created by the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (MSI). Local support for “A Mirror Maze: Numbers in Nature” provided by the Isdell Family Foundation.

“Armored Animals” in partnership with Gaston Design Inc., Fruita, Co.

“WildWoods: AGLOW” created in partnership with Thinkwell, a TAIT Company.

TICKETS

Exhibits, films and Discovery Days are included with daytime general admission and with CityPASS. General admission tickets include three floors of exhibits in the natural history museum, choice of one giant screen film, and 75-acres of nature explorations in Fernbank Forest and WildWoods. Fernbank After Dark and some other special after-hours events are available at a separate ticket price. Fernbank is located at 767 Clifton Road NE in Atlanta, minutes from midtown Atlanta and downtown Decatur.

For more information, visit FernbankMuseum.org. General admission tickets are $25.95 for adults, $24.95 for seniors, $23.95 for children ages 3-12, free for children ages 2 and younger, and free for Fernbank Members. These prices are for tickets purchased online at

FernbankMuseum.org. Tickets not purchased in advance are offered, if available, at a higher price. More information is available at FernbankMuseum.org.

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Jena Allison, Communications Manager
Jena.Allison@FernbankMuseum.org
404.929.6381

ABOUT FERNBANK

Fernbank is one of the most popular and iconic cultural destinations in Atlanta. Known as Atlanta's Science and Nature Experience, Fernbank invites guests to discover a World of Wow through an expansive natural history museum, 4-story giant screen theater, and 75 acres of nature adventures in WildWoods and Fernbank Forest. One of the oldest not-for-profit conservation organizations in the country, Fernbank was founded in 1939 to preserve Fernbank Forest, the largest urban, old growth, Piedmont forest in the United States. The museum and giant screen theater opened as "a school in the woods for nature studies" on Oct. 5, 1992, and is today known for its giant dinosaurs, hands-on STEAM* programming, immersive experiences, and year-round nature exploration. Visit fernbankmuseum.org for more information and join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and TikTok.

*Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.