Weekly parties at the science museum

Word to the wise: Book online and arrive before 6pm, heading straight for the planetarium and rainforest, which close early. After that, relax with cocktails in the aquarium.

Every Thursday night, the California Academy of Sciences opens its doors for a reduced fee and transforms from an educational museum into a themed soiree, complete with cocktails and a live DJ. Get tipsy alongside an enormous jellyfish while inside the museum’s climate-controlled tropical rain forest, or while gazing at the stars through a telescope on the ‘living roof’.

Each event offers a different range of performances and lectures in addition to music and drinks. Always fueled by scientific and cultural curiosity, past themes include the phenomenon of scent, a collection of do-it-yourself workshops, and a Chinese New Year celebration featuring lion dancers, calligraphers and martial arts demonstrations.