Scifest Africa, South Africa’s National Science Festival, invites visitors to see the light from space, the sparkling light through diamonds, and the shining light of inspiration at this year’s event to be held in Grahamstown from 18 to 24 March.
The 2015 theme, “Science alight!”, will form part of the 2015 International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies activities and will celebrate several anniversaries, including the 1000th anniversary of the publication of the seven volume treatise on optics by Ibn al-Haytham, the centenary of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, and the announcement last year that the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics had been awarded to the inventors of the blue LED.
The festival programme will offer visitors exhibitions and over 600 interactive events that will explore all facets of light, including anatomy, architecture, arts and culture, astronomy, atmospheric sciences, aviation, biotechnology, chemistry, diet, energy, fibre optics, gravity, lasers, matter, microscopy, nanotechnology, optics, photonics, space sciences, the spectrum, and the universe.
A sure highlight will be the attendance of a high-level delegation from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), whose contributions will focus on the John Webb Space Telescope, Mars Exploration Programme, New Horizons Mission and Rosetta Mission, and will include public appearances by astronaut, Dr Catherine Coleman.
Other international contributions to the programme will come from Argentina, China, France, Germany, Turkey, the UK and USA. Back by popular demand, is blind astronomer Wanda Diaz, who will tell the story of how she followed a career in astronomy against all odds and how she listens to the stars.
The festival programme will also place special focus on Grahamstown’s Observatory Museum, home to the only Victorian camera obscura in the southern hemisphere, and the room in which the first diamond found in South Africa, later named the Eureka Diamond, was identified in 1867.
Sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Scifest Africa remains the largest festival of its kind on the African continent, welcoming over 68,000 visitors of all ages to Grahamstown in 2014.
Popular events like workshops usually book out early, so keep an eye on www.scifest.org.za for the electronic programme available from 18 February 2015. Online and telephonic bookings open on the same day. Contact Scifest Africa on 046 603 1106 or info@scifest.org.za for more information.
For more information please contact:
Steven Lang
Tel: 046 603 1166
E-mail: media@scifest.org.za
Veronica Mohapeloa
Cell: 082 882 3818
E-mail: veronica.mohapeloa@dst.gov.za
