Activities for the sixth annual Tennessee STEAM Festival are underway and run through Oct. 23.

The festival’s popular “STEAM-a-Palooza” returns this year on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. at the Discovery Center, 502 S.E. Broad St. in Murfreesboro. This free, all-ages outdoor event (rain or shine) features robotics, creative arts, environmental conservation, composting, cosmetics, physics, mathematics, and meteorology as well as live performances and food trucks. In addition, Discovery Center’s general admission for indoor exhibits will be half-price from noon to 4 p.m. on Oct. 15.

“Where else can curious kids and adults navigate using the stars, hunt for bugs with an entomologist, engage with scientists, engineers, tech-industry experts and artists in a 10-day celebration across the state?” said Discovery Center CEO Tara MacDougall.

The festival was founded by the Discovery Center at Murfree Spring and incorporates events hosted by a wide range of museums, schools, community centers and other attractions. More information is available at TNsteam.org.

• “Rocks, Fossils, the Civil War and Revolution on the Murfreesboro Greenway” — 10 a.m. Oct. 15, an outdoors event at Fortress Rosecrans Trailhead, 1916 Golf Lane, in Murfreesboro. It will be led by geosciences professor Mark Abolins (Mark.Abolins@mtsu.edu).

Abolins said the trailhead is the gateway to limestone rock formations and fossils millions of years old, Civil War fortifications and a creek named after a Revolutionary War captain. He recommends wearing sturdy shoes or boots.

• “Trees are Terrific! A Self-Guided Tour of MTSU’s Arboretum” at MTSU. It is an outside tree tour that can be done anytime during daylight hours. Professor Kim Cleary Sadler (Kim.Sadler@mtsu.edu) said it is a casual walk that takes about two hours.

The Murfreesboro Municipal Airport will host a STEAM Festival event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday Oct. 22, featuring static displays showing off aviation and what the airport brings to the community. There will be educational opportunities to teach everyone the fundamentals of aviation.

The Experimental Aircraft Association will teach kids how planes fly and show off the aircraft that fly in and out of the airport daily. Other activities are planned.

The list of participants in the Murfreesboro Airport STEAM Festival event also include: