Scifest Africa welcomed more than 65 000 visitors of all ages to Grahamstown in 2013. This year the festival, starting on 12 March, will also host three parallel festivals during Scifest Africa 2014, namely the iRhini Township Festival, Scikids and Scifest Africa @ Nelson Mandela Bay Science Centre, Uitenhage.
Scifest Africa welcomed more than 65 000 visitors of all ages to Grahamstown in 2013. This year the festival, starting on 12 March, will also host three parallel festivals during Scifest Africa 2014, namely the iRhini Township Festival, Scikids and Scifest Africa @ Nelson Mandela Bay Science Centre, Uitenhage.
Celebrating the theme 'Into the space!', the 2014 festival programme will offer visitors over 500 events that will explore spaces big and small, such as anatomy and the brain, astronomy, the atmosphere, architecture, biotechnology, the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Space Agency, geographical regions, nanotechnology, psychology, underground and underwater exploration, space sciences, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and the universe.
Scifest Africa Director, Anja Fourie, says the theme was selected in support of celebrations to mark the installation of the first of 64 radio telescope dishes in Carnarvon, Northern Cape that will make up meerKAT, the precursor to the SKA telescope.
“South Africa’s geographical advantages, infrastructure and human capital have allowed our country to become a place of major significance in the practice of astronomy and space sciences, and we look forward to showing off African astronomy and space sciences at the festival.”
The festival programme will see the return of popular events such as the DST Laser Show, Kids Dig, Rhodes University Green Fund Run and Soap Box Derby, but will also feature several new events including a Paper Aeroplane Competition, Science in the Park, and Science Slam sponsored by the German Embassy in South Africa.
Sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Scifest Africa remains the largest festival of its kind on the African continent
Scifest Africa was established in 1996 to promote public appreciation of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation.
The project consists of two components, namely the National Science Festival held in Grahamstown in March every year, as well as regional and national outreach programmes implemented throughout the rest of the year.
Scifest Africa also allows South Africa and the world’s leading scientists the opportunity to share their work, make science accessible within the reach of ordinary people, network with one another, provide career guidance and act as role models for our youth, in order to encourage the youth to embark on careers and become leaders in these fields.
Scifest Africa is a project of the Grahamstown Foundation, a not-for-profit public benefit organisation
The Electronic programme will be available at www.scifest.org.za from 3 February 2014, when bookings open. Contact Joy Matambo on (046) 603 1166 or media@scifest.org.za for more information.
