Valletta hosted Malta’s largest celebration of science and the arts last weekend, as Science in the City brought together scientists, researchers, artists and science enthusiasts on September 26 and 27. Rooted in the theme ‘Past Forward’, the festival showcased how lessons from history inspired future innovation, creativity and public engagement across STEAM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics). The organising team contacted over 1,000 organisations to participate in the event, resulting in the festival's most diverse programme yet, which generated over 1.1 million views on social media. Overall, 20,000 visitors attended the festival, which had 90 stands at the street festival, 18 performances and 19 workshops. The event saw the participation of 14 NGOs and 12 student organisations and 378 researchers, 239 content providers and over 100 festival volunteers.