Fun-filled NI Science Festival

Taking place at the STEM Centre, South West College, Circular Road, Dungannon, from 10am to 5.30pm on Thursday 16 February, the roadshow will feature a variety of talks, shows and interactive activities, which will captivate and enthral visitors of all ages.

Activities include: visiting deep space in 3D to take a broader look at our universe, learning all about exploding vegetables as fuels of the future, handling exotic animals, performing your own exploding scientific experiments, making your own “X-rays” and building a remote-controlled Lego locomotive.

The festival will appear in towns and cities across Northern Ireland with a packed programme including fun-filled road shows planned for Enniskillen, Newry, Coleraine and Dungannon.

Overall, this year’s festival will see more than 150 events taking place around the region. Internationally renowned speakers appearing include historian Bettany Hughes, academic and broadcaster Dr Alice Roberts, leading physicists Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Jim Al-Khalili, maths communicator Marcus du Sautoy and Britain’s first astronaut Helen Sharman.

Backed by the Department for the Economy, Belfast City Council, Tourism NI, Queen’s University, Ulster University, Department for Communities, The Matrix Panel, the British Council and STEM recruitment specialists MCS Group, the festival offers a range of workshops, talks and interactive activities for young people and parents during the day; then a mix of scientific debate, talks, theatres, comedy, music and film for adults in the evening.

According to NI Science Festival Director Chris McCreery: “We’ve worked hard to craft a festival that will appeal to all ages and backgrounds. The festival has grown year-on-year and we very pleased to offer an enhanced programme and to bring our festival roadshows to towns around the country.

“Last year more than 65,000 people joined us for the festival and we hope that by widening opportunities, more people will have the opportunity to connect to the wonders of science in their lives.”

For further information about the Northern Ireland Science Festival and ticketing, log on to http://www.nisciencefestival.com ,facebook.com/NISCIFEST or @niscifest