Petco Park traded baseball bats for beakers yesterday as thousands of San Diego kids and their families flooded the stadium for the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering. The free Expo Day effectively turned the ballpark into a sprawling, hands-on science lab, with interactive demos, robots, and build-your-own DNA models that let kids tinker with real lab gear and engineering projects. For many parents and volunteers, the timing felt pointed, arriving just as federal budget proposals in Washington threatened steep cuts to the agencies that bankroll research and outreach.
The festival, run by Generation STEAM, took over the field with roughly 125 participating science organizations, according to organizers. As KPBS has reported, the single-day Expo typically draws about 20,000 visitors to Petco Park.
Among the crowds was 9-year-old Nicholas Camargo, who built a DNA-helix replica and told reporters the day gave him a real glimpse of what life as an engineer might look like. Festival organizer Annie Warner told ABC 10News that events like Expo Day are critical for sparking early interest in science, and volunteers from biotech firms, museums and universities ran stations where kids could get their hands on lab-grade equipment.
Budget cuts loom in Washington
The festival landed in the middle of a contentious FY2026 budget fight in Washington over federal research funding. A Congressional Research Service summary notes the administration's FY2026 request would reduce the NIH program level to roughly $27.9 billion, a drop of about 40 percent from FY2025 levels that advocates say would sharply curtail grants and clinical research opportunities.
NASA's FY2026 technical supplement showed deep cuts to the agency's science account, with the Science Mission Directorate slated to fall to about $3.9 billion, roughly a 47 percent decline from FY2025 science funding levels. NASA and subsequent analyses warned such a reduction would force cancellations or delays for dozens of missions and education programs.
The National Science Foundation's FY2026 request shrank as well. The agency's own budget documents list a $3.9 billion topline, down more than half from recent enacted totals and raising alarms about research grants, fellowships and K-12 outreach. National Science Foundation and industry groups said the proposed levels would greatly reduce the pipeline that feeds local labs and classrooms.
Why local programs matter
Local educators and industry partners said the Expo's hands-on booths and career panels help put technical careers within reach for kids who might not otherwise see themselves in a lab coat. Organizations involved in Generation STEAM told sponsors and volunteers that outreach events and grant-funded programs are the built-in pathways that turn early curiosity into long-term learning and local job pipelines.
For one Saturday, the ballpark felt less like a proxy in a budget battle and more like a giant classroom. Kids soldered, coded and high-fived over small victories that could shape career choices for years. Organizers say that whatever happens in D.C., the kind of exposure Expo Day provides is hard to replace and that local partnerships will be essential if federal support tightens.
