SOUTH AFRICA’s first national science and technology festival looks set to become an annual event after attracting about 15 000 visitors to a week-long programme of science-related activities in Grahamstown.
Scifest ’97, which ended on Wednesday, also drew enthusiastic support from a range of science-related organisations and businesses, and even individuals. A lone professor from Natal who set up a small corner stand to display the miniature steam engines he designs proved to be a major hit. Director of the festival, Brian Wilmot, estimates that about 80% of the visitors were schoolchildren, who came in supervised groups from all over the Eastern Cape. The rest, he says, were family units who took day trips from Port Elizabeth, East London and other towns in the area.
Wilmot says that Scifest might give birth to a number of science fairs and other events that will not be confined to Grahamstown. The Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology is looking at the possibility of spinning off some aspects of the festival for next year, which the government has declared the year of science and technology. And an education NGO is looking to work with the Scifest organisers on developing science fairs in rural areas.
Of course, the survival of the festival depends largely on money, which means the continued support of this year’s major sponsor, Sasol. The oil company has not yet announced whether it plans to continue bankrolling the festival, but the signs look good.
Scifest offered its visitors a mix of expert lectures, interactive workshops, and exhibitions, at very inexpensive rates. Wilmot says about 5000 people attended the various workshops and lectures. Other organisers say that many workshops could only offer limited places and were fully booked.
Top of the festival popularity list was a mix of local and international names. Despite his unpopular views on God, Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins was a drawcard, as was the magician James Randi, a crusader against fake psychics. But equally popular were sports stars Dr Tim Noakes and runner Bruce Fordyce.
Wilmot says one of the most popular exhibits was Wits University’s Earth Sciences display – dinosaurs, volcanoes and fossils, to the uninitiated. A lot of the displays were rather old-style – pictures on pinboards and brochures – and the organisers hope to inspire exhibitors to produce more interactive activities next year.
Participants who were using computers for various interactive activities came up against the overarching influence of cyberspace as teenage hackers broke into their operating systems in an attempt to get to the Internet – and on at least one occasion, deleted files in anger at not being able to find it. But most exhibitors agree the event was a good start and most plan to use their experience when designing displays for next year’s festival – if it happens.