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Mars New Year schedule, vendors and sponsors

Valentina Wojnar waits to take the stage during the costume contest during 2017’s Mars New Year Festival. Butler Eagle File Photo
Schedule of events

All speakers, unless noted, will be at the main stage, corner of Pittsburgh Street and Grand Avenue, by the spaceship.

Friday

5 p.m. — Festival opens with Mayor Gregg Hartung and Mark Harvey, meteorologist for WTAE

5:15 p.m. — Rocket launch with Pittsburgh Space Command

6 p.m. — Jim Christiansen, chief innovation officer, Aldrin Family Foundation, Retired

Dr. Soyeon Yi

6:45 p.m. — Dr. Soyeon Yi, South Korea’s first astronaut

7:30 p.m. — Jim Green, former NASA chief scientist, introduced by Jeff Beckstead, of the Mars Robotics Association

8 p.m. — Rocket launch with Pittsburgh Space Command

8:30 p.m. — Let's Groove Tonight; Earth, Wind, & Fire Tribute Band

10 p.m. — Firefly Drone Show

10:15 p.m. — Festival ends

Saturday

2 p.m. — Kerry Handron, Allegheny Observatory outreach coordinator; a student from the Allegheny Observatory High School Club; and Travis Court, University of Pittsburgh grad student

3 p.m. — Rocket launch with Pittsburgh Space Command

3:15 p.m. — STEAM Challenge Awards presentation with Jenay Sharp Leach

4 p.m. — Mars Costume Contest

4:45 p.m. — Martian of the Year Award

5 p.m. — Dr. Catherine Regan, planetary scientist, West Virginia University

5:30 p.m. — Rocket launch with Pittsburgh Space Command

6 p.m. — Martian Melodies Orchestra concert at Mars Presbyterian Church on Crowe Avenue

7 p.m. — Mackenzie Sloan, electrical engineer and software team lead at Kennedy Space Center and Seneca Valley High School alumnae

8 p.m. — Rocket launch with Pittsburgh Space Command

8:30 p.m. — The Pulse

10 p.m. — Firefly Drone Show

10:15 p.m. — Festival ends

Exhibitors

3D Crafts & Curios

Armstrong/Armstrong Comfort Solutions

Artwork Display

Astro In Focus

Astronaut Training from Mars Area Elementary

CCA — Techworks

Civil Air Patrol, Pennsylvania Wing

Coherent

Cre8tiv Arts

Experience Butler

KidZone

Mars Robotics

Mountaineer Area Robotics

NASA

Pennsylvania Army National Guard

Pittsburgh Space Command 473

SAE A World in Motion

Solar System Ambassadors

Southern Butler County Business Association

Space Globes

STEAM Challenge

Steel City LUG (Lego Users Group)

West Virginia University — Department of physics

WQED

Food vendors

Cindy’s Munchies

Boy Scout Troop 400

Stick City

The Grandy Candy Shop

Nosh & Curd

Portersville Snowman

And two to three Pittsburgh-region-based food trucks

Sponsors

Armstrong

Experience Butler County

Planet Mart Food Mart

NexTier Bank

The Grable Foundation

Belleville International

Lutheran SeniorLife/St. John Community

Vogel Disposal

WQED

WTAE

Sheetz

RichMar Rotary

Electromat

Stick City

First Commonwealth Bank

Firefly Drones

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