The Natural History Museum of Utah is hosting BugFest this weekend, featuring winning insect creations from a recent LEGO building contest and celebrating the museum's immersive Bug World exhibition. The festival, which includes expert-led workshops and specimen displays, aims to foster a greater appreciation for the diverse and essential world of invertebrates.
LEGO Winners Take Center Stage
The BugFest event highlights the winners of the museum's Bug World-inspired LEGO contest, which ran from June 15 until August 1. In the Advanced Category, 27-year-old Keegan Petersen of West Valley secured the top prize for his recreation of a Mormon cricket, Anabrus simplex. Petersen, who spent approximately 16 hours on the build, noted that the insect's cultural relevance to Utah motivated his choice and that his limited brick collection presented a significant challenge.
Young Builders Showcase Creativity
The Novice Category winner, 9-year-old Soren Potuck of Heber, earned recognition for his creative depiction of a ruby-tailed wasp, Chrysis ignita. Potuck reported that the project took roughly 10 hours to complete and utilized 373 LEGO pieces. The young builder noted that the primary difficulty involved maintaining the structural integrity of the insect's body.
Community Support for Young Entomologists
Both contest winners will attend BugFest this weekend, where their intricate insect models will be displayed in the museum's Canyon area. The LEGO contest was supported by several partners, including BrickSlopes, the Utah LEGO Users Group, and the Salt Lake County Library system, the latter of which provided free building opportunities through LEGO Club events in various branches.
Immersive Insect Exhibition
The festival coincides with the museum's Bug World exhibition, an immersive experience that opened on Feb. 14, 2026, and remains open through Sept. 7, 2026. Developed by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and built by the five-time Academy Award-winning Wēta Workshop, the exhibit features giant, detailed models of invertebrates designed to provide a "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" perspective.
Science and Hollywood Craftsmanship
The Bug World exhibition uses light, sound, and motion within immersive pods to showcase unique insect adaptations. Featured biological "superpowers" include the camouflage of orchid mantises, the predatory behaviors of jewel wasps, and the swarm strategies used by bees. According to Ben Barraud, the exhibition's head of design, these features demonstrate how humans are adapting insect technology, such as using spider venom for cancer treatments or studying houseflies to improve drones.
A New Scale of Wonder
NHMU Executive Director Jason Cryan, Ph.D., described the exhibition as a way to inspire wonder regarding the natural world through a "wow factor" previously unseen at the museum. The exhibition is supported by the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, with additional sponsorship from the Meldrum Foundation, My Good Fund, Rio Tinto Kennecott, and several other community and family foundations.
Educational Outreach via Podcast
Beyond the physical exhibits, the museum produces the Bug Note podcast to explore the "wiggly, wild, and weird world of bugs." Hosted by Daniel Potter, the podcast features NHMU experts like Invertebrate Collections Manager Christy Bills to discuss topics ranging from the definition of a bug to the impact of invasive species and the evolutionary success of extremophiles.
