The sixth Starmus, one of the world-scale science and art festivals will take place in September 2021 in Yerevan, Armenia, to celebrate science communication with world-class scientists, artists and astronauts.

In the past, Starmus has hosted Apollo astronauts, among them Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Alexei Leonov, Viktor Gorbatko and Charlie Duke. Many Nobel prize winners, breakthrough scientists and space explorers have shared their science from the Starmus stage, among them May-Britt Moser, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Elizabeth Blackburn, Donna Strickland, Jill Tarter, Kip Thorne, Robert Wilson, Yuri Baturin, Michel Mayor, Eduard Moser, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Gennadiy Padalka, Richard Dawkins, Brian Cox, Tony Fadell, and many other giants of science. Stephen Hawking and Alexei Leonov, together with the rock star Brian May, worked to create the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, awarded to individuals and teams who have made significant contributions to science communication. Previous Stephen Hawking Medal winners include Elon Musk, Jean-Michel Jarre, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Hans Zimmer and The Particle Fever documentary.

The sixth Starmus will be dedicated to Mars, from the very first Soviet MARS 3 to the ambitious manned landing plans and spectacular NASA missions. It has been 50 years since MARS 3 performed the first soft landing on the Red Planet and sent back to the Earth the first image of its surface. This milestone was followed by dozens of successful missions by NASA providing us with more accurate images and information from our neighbour in the Solar System. Following the established tradition, the Festival will address pressing issues and screen films about the exploration of Mars. Previous film screenings included the documentary Apollo 11 and The Spacewalker, a film about the legendary Russian astronaut and Starmus Board Member Alexei Leonov.

The festival will be held under the high patronage of the President of Armenia, Dr. Armen Sarkissian. The President has invited Starmus to Armenia during his invited speech in 2019 at the opening ceremony of Starmus in Zurich.

The Government of Armenia will support and work in partnership to make the festival an outstanding event. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and the Ministry of High-Tech Industry will play an important role in different educational, scientific and artistic activities of the festival.

As in the previous years, the sixth Starmus Festival will welcome to the stage world-class scientists, artists and astronauts to share breakthrough discoveries, reflect upon pressing questions and inspire new generations of scientists and explorers.

The Starmus board will announce a further line-up of speakers from art and music.