SciFest Africa 2009

In total SciFest Africa 2009 offered visitors 477 events and activities over the period of seven days from 25 to 31 March. A total of 34 230 tickets were sold - an increase of 8 765 tickets when compared to the number of tickets sold in 2008. The number of visitors to SciFest Africa increased by 7 172 to a total of 71 489, making SciFest Africa 2009 the most well attended festival to date.

Main Programme

The byline Space to explore was adopted for the 2009 festival, in line with the International Year of Astronomy as declared by the United Nations. Visitors were encouraged to explore and discover. In addition, SciFest Africa celebrated Darwin 200 by including lectures, talkshops and workshops on evolution in the programme. A broad range of topics that not only complimented the byline but also responded to visitor’s comments were selected. Experienced lecturers, exhibition facilitators, workshop presenters, and other contributors were sought with gender and racial balance in mind. The main programme was coordinated and managed by SciFest Africa staff and advised by the members of the 2008 National Advisory Committee (NAC). Minister of Science and Technology, Minister Mosibudi Mangena officially opened SciFest Africa 2009 on Friday 27th March. This opening and lecture were dedicated to Brian Wilmot, Director of SciFest Africa from 1997-2008. Noted American philosopher, Daniel Dennett, delivered the keynote lecture From Animal to Person: The Evolution of us.

Workshops

The overwhelming support from the contributors and the visitors to the workshops means that this year we had record numbers of learners, educators and the general public attending workshops. We cannot thank our contributors enough for the all the hard work and time that they put in to presenting such a fantastic array of workshops. Many of the workshops were sold out long before SciFest Africa 2009 started.

Etcetera

The Etcetera section included a wide range of activities and events which added much variety to the programme. Ticket prices were set at R8-00 unless otherwise indicated. International lecture demonstrations were presented by the University of Bristol and the University of East Anglia. Crisp packet fireworks, a science show presented by The Naked Scientists from Britain, proved to be extremely popular and informative.

Fringe Programme

Fringe programme events were once again presented by Rhodes University, SAIAB and St Andrew’s Preparatory. Although some of the events were not all that well attended, the overall feedback received from these organisations is that they were happy with attendance and will continue to be an integral part of SciFest Africa in future.

Exhibitions

Exhibition venues were the Albany History Museum, Albany Natural Sciences Museum and the 1820 Settlers National Monument. A total of 39 exhibitions covered a wide range of topics and were presented by corporations, government departments, industry, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s), publishers and various tertiary institutions. Stricter guidelines will have to be implemented next year to ensure that exhibitors do not present static or trade fair exhibitions, but more interactive type exhibits that encourage visitors to ask questions.