From October 23 to 25, 2026, the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan will host the ninth edition of Focus Live, the festival organized by Focus magazine dedicated to science, curiosity, and the big questions of the present. This year’s chosen theme is “Intelligences”, in the plural: an invitation to explore the many ways in which the mind, behavior, technology, and nature generate solutions, learn, communicate, and adapt.

For three days, Focus Live will bring scientists, researchers, communicators, and champions to the stage for events designed to present science in an accessible and engaging way. Attendees can follow the sessions on the Main Stage, at the Speakers’ Corner, and at the Creators’ Corner, as well as enjoy hands-on experiences in areas dedicated to interactive activities, live demonstrations, and workshops.

Among the first confirmed guests are sprinter Filippo Tortu, who will talk about the intelligence behind athletic movement; Barbara Mazzolai, a leading expert in plant-inspired robotics; pharmacologist Silvio Garattini; bioengineer and physicist Maria Chiara Carrozza; freediver Mike Maric; linguist Irene Lo Faro; and Charlie Smart Robot. Additional guests will be announced in the coming weeks, with the program continuously updated at https://live.focus.it.

Focus Live is more than just a lineup of talks. In the Experience Area, 1,600 square meters will be dedicated to interactive installations and live demonstrations, while the Open Air Lab will bring experiments directly into the Museum’s outdoor spaces. Highlights of the 2026 edition include the Podcast Studio Live, a glass box where guests will share their stories during live-recorded podcasts, which will later be available on YouTube and audio platforms.

Enhancing the experience further, the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology will open some of its most beloved exhibition routes to the public during the festival. Guided tours of the Leonardo Galleries and the Space area, activities in the iLabs dedicated to sustainability and digital technologies, sessions for younger visitors in the Playlab, and the virtual reality escape game The Touch will guide participants through the Museum’s heritage and educational vision. This offering complements the festival schedule, reaffirming the Museum as a key point of reference for dialogue between science, technology, and society.

A large space will also be dedicated to the Kids Area, curated by Focus Junior. For this edition, it expands to cover two whole areas of the Cavallerizze: here, alongside activities designed to introduce children and young people to science through robotics, mathematics, and nature, workshops organized with scientific partners and sponsors will be offered alongside a large play area featuring brain teasers, mega puzzles, sudoku, and chess games.

Focus Live is created in close collaboration with the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology, serving as a cultural partner and co-producer of the program. For the 2026 edition, the festival also partners with: Aeronautica Militare, Associazione Smontolab, Business&Roads, Human Technopole, IIT, Inaf, JRC (Joint Research Centre), Planetario di Muggiò, Politecnico di Torino, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Think about Science, and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

The journey toward Focus Live will kick off as early as October 1 with “Waiting for Focus Live”, a preview hosted by the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. Science communicator and journalist Massimo Polidoro will lead the audience into the mind of Leonardo da Vinci, starting from the original sheets of the Codex Atlanticus preserved in the Federiciana Hall.

This year, the “Waiting for Focus Live” program also includes a special event for younger audiences: on October 11, at the Centrale dell’Acqua in Milan, young readers of Focus Junior will get to meet Geronimo Stilton, who will be ready to present his exciting “Mission Water” (“Missione Acqua”).

 

• Main Partners: BYD, Eni
• Partners: Humanitas University, Jordan Oral Care
• Content Partners: AIRC, Mondadori Education, Opera San Francesco
• Technical Partner: La Lucerna Educational
• Cultural Partner: Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci

 

All information available at: https://live.focus.it

 

Instagram: @focus_ita

Facebook: @focus

 

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Focus

Focus, the monthly magazine published by Mondadori Media S.p.A., is the leading brand—across its various extensions—in popular science communication in Italy. It boasts a total unique print + digital audience of over 5.3 million (source: Audicom – March 2026) and a monthly circulation of over 104,000 copies (source: ADS, January/April 2026).

Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci

The Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology is today the most important technical-scientific museum in Italy and one of the most prominent in Europe. Located in an Olivetan monastery built in the early 16th century in the heart of Milan, the Museum was founded in 1953 by engineer Guido Ucelli. Its objective is to tell the story of the “becoming of the world” starting from a unified view of culture represented by Leonardo da Vinci, to whom the Leonardo Galleries—representing its historic core identity—are dedicated. The Museum’s mission is to foster scientific citizenship: the set of knowledge and skills essential for understanding and discussing the impacts and interactions of science and technology in everyday life and with other fields of knowledge and society. Today, it is a private law Foundation supported by public institutions, with Milan’s main universities serving on its scientific council. https://www.museoscienza.org