BASF’s global Kids’ Lab programme has won the “Best Exhibitor” award at SciFest Africa, event organisers lauding it for embodying the spirit of SciFest.
BASF’s global Kids’ Lab programme has won the “Best Exhibitor” award at SciFest Africa, event organisers lauding it for embodying the spirit of SciFest.
At the closing ceremony of Africa’s largest science festival, event organisers said the stand, which presented pupils with the opportunity to experience hands-on chemistry experiments, embodied the objectives of Scifest.
“The BASF Kids’ Lab is what Scifest Africa is all about.
"With such a superior exhibition hosted in our premier venue, the Fountain Court, it helped us send a clear message to our visitors that the festival has changed gear in terms of quality,” said Scifest Africa Director, Anja Fourie.
The “Best Exhibitor” award was voted by fellow exhibitors at Scifest Africa as well as the Scifest Africa permanent staff. “Our criteria for this award require that the exhibitions which are nominated are interactive and tactile; facilitated at all times; appeal to a range of age groups; relate to the topics of the school curriculum where possible; promote careers in STEM; and are visually appealing,” said Fourie.
Kids’ Lab experiments were attended by close to 2000 learners
A spectacular feature of the closing ceremony was a five-ship aerobatics display by the Silver Falcons, the display team of the SA Air Force.
The display supported the festival’s 2014 theme, “Into the Space” and was a result of negotiations between Scifest Africa and the SA Air Force over the course of two years.
Falcon 5 crew leader, Major Beau Skarda said it was the first display by the Silver Falcons over Grahamstown.
Supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and a growing number of embassies and sponsors in kind, Scifest Africa welcomed 68,500 visitors from Southern Africa, contributors from 12 countries, and 22 new contributing organisations.
