SciFest Africa 2008

SciFest Africa 2008, the first festival to carry its new name, attracted a record number of people to Grahamstown over the week period from 16 to 22 April. Over 58 000 people from all over South Africa and the world came to enjoy 575 events. Just over 25 000 tickets were sold.

Lectures

SciFest Africa hosted 12 international speakers and 15 South African speakers who covered topics such as animal behaviour, climate change, Islamic science, dinosaurs, electricity, natural magick and genomics.

Talkshops

The talkshop programme increased to 29 events in 2008 to satisfy the demand from previous years. Talkshops are less formal, interactive presentations which encourage questions and debate. Topics included genetic modification, cosmetics, diamonds, intelligence, lightening and animation.

Exhibitions

A total of 42 exhibitions were set up in the 1820 Settlers National Monument, the Albany History Museum and the Albany Science Museum. Exhibitors included government departments, industry, NGOs, science centres, research facilities and tertiary institutions. All exhibitions were free.

Workshops

Workshops for all ages included topics like polymers, HIV/AIDS, teaching the sciences, recycling, bridge building, lasers, the weather and aviation.

Etcetera

The Etcetera section included a wide range of activities and events which added much variety to the programme. Events include the AMESA Maths Relay, educational theatre, field trips, science cafes, SciKids, lecture demonstrations, science shows, the laser show, quizzes, a church service, the soap box derby and the science Olympics.

FilmFest

The following films were screened: Bee Movie, I am legend, Astronaut Farmer and Transformers. Documentaries screened were Who killed the electric car?, The Carbon Connection, Mine your own busienss and The 11th Hour.

Fringe Festival

A comprehensive programme was presented by staff and students in the Rhodes University Faculty of Science and included exhibitions, films, interactive demonstrations, talkshops, workshops and the Frontiers of Science lecture series.