2025 Brings a Year of Adventures to Fernbank Museum

Fernbank Museum is home to so many great permanent and visiting exhibits and events — and 2025 will be no different!

Fernbank Museum 2025

Fernbank Museum is moving into 2025 with a year of thrilling special exhibits, giant screen films, themed Discovery days, nighttime nature adventures, adult science nights, and more.

Want to know what you can expect this year? Here are some of the exciting things happening at Fernbank in 2025.

New Giant Screen Film

Fernbank’s exciting new year brings the first of the new 2025 giant screen films to viewers with Desert Elephants, opening on January 18, 2025. This film follows the story of a baby calf in a desert elephant herd on its journey of growth and learning across a land of extremes.

Special Exhibitions

Ultimate Dinosaurs

Opening February 8, Ultimate Dinosaurs invites audiences into the bizarre and fascinating world of dinosaur evolution in a new special exhibit that explores why the unique Southern Hemisphere dinosaurs are so different from their North American counterparts.

Through an impressive blend of skeletal displays and augmented reality, guests will learn about the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea and how it altered the ancient world through life-sized dinosaur displays and genuine fossils that reveal some of the most important evolutionary discoveries of dinosaurs from the Southern Hemisphere, including South America, Africa, and Madagascar, in recent history.

Turtles

In early summer, Fernbank will welcome the special exhibit, Turtles, from June 7 – Sept. 1. This exhibit features live turtles from a variety of climates and explores their unique anatomy, fascinating behaviors and the vital role they play in their ecosystems.

Featuring content in both English and Spanish, and daily live animal presentations, this exhibit will give guests the opportunity to learn about these beloved reptiles as they experience hands-on activities that explore turtle habitats, diets, reproduction and conservation efforts to protect the species.

Sunken Treasures, Ancient Seas

Set to open Oct. 4, Sunken Treasures, Ancient Seas sets sail for Fernbank to embark on a thrilling voyage of underwater discovery and recovery. Focusing on the submerged landscapes found around the island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, this unique exhibit explores underwater archaeology, shipwrecks, sunken treasures and more.

Sunken Treasures, Ancient Seas highlights underwater discoveries, including objects from naval ships, ceramic vessels, coins, jewelry and more. Complemented by stunning video technology that will transport visitors deep below the surface in each exhibit section, Sunken Treasures, Ancient Seas is an immersive experience that combines visual record-keeping with ancient artifacts for a fascinating dive into history.

Outdoor Traveling Exhibits

This year, Fernbank highlights two outdoor exhibits to be featured in WildWoods, including…

• Spirit Guides: Fantastical Creatures, on view from March 29 – Aug. 3, and
• Extinct and Endangered: Insects in Peril, on view from Aug. 9 – Nov. 2

Created by the workshop of Mexican artists Jacobo and María Ángeles, Spirit Guides is a collection of brightly colored and richly patterned sculptures that depict imaginary hybrid animals inspired by the Zapotec calendar, which is indigenous to Southern Mexico. These animals represent both spirit guides and astrological embodiments of the human character in a unique medium.

Extinct and Endangered features 19 incredible but imperiled species through large-format photographs
from the American Museum of Natural History. This exhibit highlights the importance of insect to ecosystems around the world, the risks they face as a result of human activities, and the important ongoing work around the globe to protect insect populations.

Discovery Days and After-Hours Events

There will be a variety of family-friendly Discovery Days throughout 2025, as well as newly added and returning nighttime events for adults and families.

The first Discovery Day, Dino Day, will celebrate the opening of “Ultimate Dinosaurs” on Feb. 8 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Other Discovery Days include Little Critters Day, Reptile Day, Dinosaur Trick or Treat and more.

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. 10. Other adults-only nights include the popular ‘90s Night event on Jan. 31, an Adult Prom on March 28 and Fright Night on Oct. 31.

All-ages, nighttime hours are available during Fernbank…but Later on the last Friday of the month from May to August from 6 – 9 p.m.

Special Experiences

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. 23, with the fall season opening in November.

Using captivating illumination, immersive projections and original musical compositions, “WildWoods: AGLOW” curates an innovative approach to storytelling that envelops visitors into the unique flora and fauna found in WildWoods.

WildWoods: AGLOW also includes access to all three floors of Fernbank Museum and a giant screen film.

Additional special experiences and indoor and outdoor programming are set to be announced throughout 2025. You can find out more information about events and experiences happening at Fernbank Museum HERE.