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43-512: The Orkney International Science Festival is a science festival which takes place every September in Kirkwall , Orkney Islands , Scotland and has been running since 1991. The first Orkney International Science Festival took place in 1991, the world's second science festival . It takes place in September each year, generally at Kirkwall . The 2014 Orkney International Science Festival

86-724: A Christian saint as well as a celebration of the time of the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, where it is particularly important in Sweden. Winter carnivals also provide the opportunity to utilise to celebrate creative or sporting activities requiring snow and ice. In the Philippines , each day of the year has at least one festival dedicated to harvesting of crops, fishes, crustaceans, milk, and other local goods. Scholarly literature notes that festivals functionally disseminate political values and meaning, such as ownership of place, which undergoes transformation in accordance with

129-408: A desire for escapism, socialization and camaraderie; the practice has been seen as a means of creating geographical connection, belonging and adaptability. The word "festival" was originally used as an adjective from the late fourteenth century, deriving from Latin via Old French . In Middle English , a "festival dai" was a religious holiday. The first recorded used of the word "festival" as

172-529: A global tourist prospect although they are commonly public or not-for-profit . Many festivals have religious origins and entwine cultural and religious significance in traditional activities. The most important religious festivals such as Christmas , Rosh Hashanah , Diwali , Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha serve to mark out the year. Others, such as harvest festivals , celebrate seasonal change. Events of historical significance, such as important military victories or other nation-building events also provide

215-497: A new type of spring event for which he coined the phrase 'science festival'. Reaction was mixed, with some organisations doubting whether science could be packaged in an arts format. Even so, the city put resources behind the idea, appointing a director and project team, and in April 1989 the first Edinburgh International Science Festival took place. Edinburgh's success led to the development of science festivals in many other parts of

258-503: A noun was in 1589 (as "Festifall"). Feast first came into usage as a noun c.  1200 , and its first recorded use as a verb was circa 1300. The word gala comes from Arabic word khil'a , meaning robe of honor. The word gala was initially used to describe "festive dress", but came to be a synonym of "festival" starting in the 18th century. Festivals have long been significant in human culture and history and are found in virtually all cultures. The importance of festivals, to

301-511: A result of which there is a wide range of ancient and modern harvest festivals . Ancient Egyptians relied upon the seasonal inundation caused by the Nile River , a form of irrigation , which provided fertile land for crops. In the Alps , in autumn the return of the cattle from the mountain pastures to the stables in the valley is celebrated as Almabtrieb . A recognized winter festival,

344-484: A science festival comes from the city of Edinburgh in 1989. The choice of Glasgow as European Capital of Culture for 1990 took Edinburgh by surprise and stimulated it to rebrand itself as a city of science, building on the success of a series of big urban developments led by its Economic Development Department. A senior member of the development team, Ian Wall, proposed that Edinburgh should highlight its new image by complementing its world-famous autumn arts festival with

387-1049: A science festival in Pittsburgh (the SciTech festival; from 2005 on known as the SciTech Spectacular), and new science festivals have been held in Cambridge, Massachusetts (the Cambridge Science Festival , first held in April 2007); and in New York City (the World Science Festival held at the end of May 2008); and in March 2009, San Diego hosted the first west coast science festival, the San Diego Science Festival founded by Larry Bock. As of 2009

430-821: Is Wonderfest , an annual Bay Area science festival that began in 1998. Additionally, the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science includes a number of public events. Focusing on one particular science, the physics festival "Mastering the Mysteries of the Universe", was held in Atlanta , Georgia, in 1999 in association with the centennial of the American Physical Society . Since 2004, there has been

473-575: Is an annual festival in central Gothenburg , Sweden with thought provoking science activities for the public. The festival is visited by about 100,000 people each year. This makes it the largest popular science event in Sweden and one of the largest popular science events in Europe . The spread of science festivals within the United States is relatively recent. One of the earliest examples

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516-513: Is the interaction of science and culture, including the arts. Generally speaking, science engagement can be separated into three orders of engagement. Irwin's conceptional 'third-order thinking' model defines 'first order' engagement to merely promote science learning, and the overall awareness and interest of science. The 'second order' of public engagement describes two-way 'dialogue', where both experts and laypeople can learn from each other by exchanging knowledge and valuable information. Connecting

559-619: The Catholic , Eastern Orthodox , and Anglican liturgical calendars there are a great number of lesser feasts throughout the year commemorating saints, sacred events or doctrines. In the Philippines , each day of the year has at least one specific religious festival, either from Catholic, Islamic, or indigenous origins. Buddhist religious festivals, such as Esala Perahera are held in Sri Lanka and Thailand. Hindu festivals , such as Holi are very ancient. The Sikh community celebrates

602-601: The Chinese New Year , is set by the lunar calendar, and celebrated from the day of the second new moon after the winter solstice . Dree Festival of the Apatanis living in Lower Subansiri District of Arunachal Pradesh is celebrated every year from July 4 to 7 by praying for a bumper crop harvest. Midsummer or St John's Day, is an example of a seasonal festival, related to the feast day of

645-695: The National Peanut Festival in the United States, or the Galway International Oyster Festival in Ireland. There are also specific beverage festivals, such as the famous Oktoberfest in Germany for beer . Many countries hold festivals to celebrate wine . One example is the global celebration of the arrival of Beaujolais nouveau , which involves shipping the new wine around the world for its release date on

688-506: The Philippines , aside from numerous art festivals scattered throughout the year, February is known as national arts month, the culmination of all art festivals in the entire archipelago. The modern model of music festivals began in the 1960s-70s and have become a lucrative global industry. Predecessors extend back to the 11th century and some, such as the Three Choirs Festival, remain to this day. Film festivals involve

731-650: The Vaisakhi festival marking the new year and birth of the Khalsa . Among the many offspring of general arts festivals are also more specific types of festivals, including ones that showcase intellectual or creative achievement such as science festivals , literary festivals and music festivals . Sub-categories include comedy festivals , rock festivals , jazz festivals and buskers festivals ; poetry festivals, theatre festivals , and storytelling festivals ; and re-enactment festivals such as Renaissance fairs . In

774-701: The Higgs boson, Einstein's universe, Maxwell's waves, exploring Mars and Venus, our changing weather, and cracking the cancer code. The 2017 festival took place in Ophir church, opened by Christopher Somerville , a travel writer. The 28th festival included Paul Nurse and Peter Higgs as key speakers. It covered hydrogen fuel technology for transport, the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition of Antarctic's seas and topics such as particle physics and black holes . Science festival The modern concept of

817-614: The Science Festival Alliance, a consortium of major festivals formed with a 3-year NSF grant, has supported the growth of independent regional science festivals, with an initial emphasis on celebration in communities throughout the US. In September 2010, the North Carolina Science Festival became the first statewide science festival in the United States, presenting more than 400 events across

860-460: The calendar in use at the time. The Sed festival , for example, celebrated the thirtieth year of an Egyptian pharaoh 's rule and then every three (or four in one case) years after that. Among the Ashantis , most of their traditional festivals are linked to gazette sites which are believed to be sacred with several rich biological resources in their pristine forms. Thus, the annual commemoration of

903-416: The conceptional tools to understand scientific development in different areas of science. In addition, festivals are often perceived to be more open and honest about uncertainties in the nature of scientific processes compared to the 'ready made' contents from some public relations end of science engagement. Existing research does not always focus enough on the need to complement impact evaluation research on

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946-622: The consumption of specially prepared food (showing the connection to "feasting") and they bring people together. Festivals are also strongly associated with national holidays. Lists of national festivals are published to make participation easier. The scale of festivals varies; in location and attendance, they may range from a local to national level. Music festivals, for example, often bring together disparate groups of people, such that they are both localised and global. The "vast majority" of festivals are, however, local, modest and populist. The abundance of festivals significantly hinders quantifying

989-456: The effectiveness of science festivals with insights about visitor perspectives. Most attendees already share a significant interest in science or self-report that they are culturally active in general. Jensen and Kennedy suggest that science festivals face challenges in terms of reaching out to as wide a public as possible, being much more inclusive to the actual population. To foster socio-economic inclusivity, science festivals should be brought to

1032-657: The festivals helps in maintaining the buoyancy of the conserved natural site, assisting in biodiversity conservation. In the Christian liturgical calendar , there are two principal feasts, properly known as the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas) and the Feast of the Resurrection (Easter), but minor festivals in honour of local patron saints are celebrated in almost all countries influenced by Christianity. In

1075-472: The gods, goddesses or saints: they are called patronal festivals . They may also provide entertainment , which was particularly important to local communities before the advent of mass-produced entertainment. Festivals that focus on cultural or ethnic topics also seek to inform community members of their traditions; the involvement of elders sharing stories and experience provides a means for unity among families . Attendants of festivals are often motivated by

1118-511: The high culture-low culture interrelationship. Next to religion and folklore , a significant origin is agricultural . Food is such a vital resource that many festivals are associated with harvest time. Religious commemoration and thanksgiving for good harvests are blended in events that take place in autumn , such as Halloween in the northern hemisphere and Easter in the southern. Festivals often serve to fulfill specific communal purposes, especially in regard to commemoration or thanking to

1161-552: The impetus for a festival. An early example is the festival established by Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses III celebrating his victory over the Libyans. In many countries, royal holidays commemorate dynastic events just as agricultural holidays are about harvests. Festivals are often commemorated annually. There are numerous types of festivals in the world and most countries celebrate important events or traditions with traditional cultural events and activities. Most culminate in

1204-641: The last few centuries – some traditional festivals in Ghana , for example, predate European colonisation of the 15th century. Festivals prospered following the Second World War. Both established in 1947, Avignon Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe have been notable in shaping the modern model of festivals. Art festivals became more prominent by the turn of the 21st century. In modern times, festivals are commodified as

1247-402: The present, is found in private and public; secular and religious life. Ancient Greek and Roman societies relied heavily upon festivals, both communal and administrative. Saturnalia was likely influential to Christmas and Carnival . Celebration of social occasions, religion and nature were common. Specific festivals have century-long histories and festivals in general have developed over

1290-481: The public through new creative ways, such as school visits - reaching diverse audiences with increasingly diverse backgrounds and previous interest in science. Festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures . It is often marked as a local or national holiday , mela , or eid . A festival constitutes typical cases of glocalization , as well as

1333-651: The results and the wider relevance of science. Recent years have seen the creation of a number of new science festivals as forms of public engagement. An umbrella organization for European science festivals and other science communication events, the European Science Events Association (EUSEA), was formed in 2001 and now has approximately 100 member organizations from 36 different countries. The concept spread to Sweden in 1997 with The International Science Festival in Gothenburg which

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1376-654: The screenings of several different films, and are usually held annually. Some of the most significant film festivals include the Berlin International Film Festival , the Venice Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival . A food festival is an event celebrating food or drink. These often highlight the output of producers from a certain region. Some food festivals are focused on a particular item of food, such as

1419-564: The state over a two-week span. The second NC Science Festival was held April 13–29, 2012, and the festival is now an annual event. Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at UNC-Chapel Hill founded the North Carolina Science Festival and continues to administer it. In late October 2010, the USA Science and Engineering Festival was the "country’s first national science festival". This national emphasis

1462-527: The third Thursday of November each year. Both Beaujolais nouveau and the Japanese rice wine sake are associated with harvest time. In the Philippines, there are at least two hundred festivals dedicated to food and drinks. Seasonal festivals, such as Beltane , are determined by the solar and the lunar calendars and by the cycle of the seasons , especially because of its effect on food supply, as

1505-517: The total there of. There exists significant variation among festivals, beyond binary dichotomies of sacred and secular, rural and urban, people and establishment. Among many religions , a feast is a set of celebrations in honour of God or gods . A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable. Most religions have festivals that recur annually and some, such as Passover , Easter, and Eid al-Adha are moveable feasts – that is, those that are determined either by lunar or agricultural cycles or

1548-453: The variety of different engagement forms. Compared to science broadcasting, festivals allow visitors to engage in discussions with experts about more complex topics. This enables visitors to dive deeper into science, benefitting from their immediacy and interactivity, while scientists get the chance to enthuse them about their work and connect to a non-expert audience. Far beyond just conveying information, science festivals provide visitors with

1591-534: The wider social context of techno-scientific advancements to social needs in defining a 'third order' of engagement, involving pluralistic debates and discussions on how science can best serve societal needs. Science festivals are quite unique for the opportunity to combine diverse engagement formats, covering all of the previously mentioned orders of engagement in an informal setting. The strengths of science festivals lie in their unique role of creating strong and memorable impressions due to their time-limited nature and

1634-703: The world. The British Science Association restructured its annual meeting, originally established in 1831 as a discussion forum for scientists, to turn it into the British Science Festival of today. The town of Cheltenham —famous for its jazz, music, and literature festivals—added science to its portfolio with the creation of the Cheltenham Science Festival in 2002. Realizing the key importance of science festivals science organizations and funding bodies put ever more emphasis on outreach to foster public understanding both of

1677-513: The year. A typical format for a science festival is to have a series of lectures, with topics ranging from cutting-edge research to unusual perspectives on science. For instance, the 2007 Edinburgh festival "Big Ideas" series included talks on what makes racing cars fast, the molecular basis of food preparation, the neurobiology of love and beauty , and the properties of quarks . Most science festivals include hands-on activities similar to those found in science centers . Another popular theme

1720-955: Was attended by more than 174,000 visitors. Science festivals feature a wide variety of events. As they offer an enjoyable setting with social interaction, visitors tend to develop increased interest in curiosity about science, and also value the opportunity to interact with scientific research through different forms of public engagement. Those can include conventional methods of science communication found in science museums and centres. Differing from them in their focus on current scientific research and their temporary nature. Because of this, science festivals have high amounts of volunteering scientists, university students, technologists and engineers. Science festivals are also aimed at playing an important, if informal part in secondary science education . Many have events specifically aimed at students or teachers, such as workshops or offering curriculum-linked workshops, and science shows to regional schools throughout

1763-583: Was based partly on encouraging local events to coincide with the major event in Washington DC. Festivals can vary greatly in size, scope, and their overall purpose. Involved partners may have different aims, methods, and motivations to participate and deliver such festivals. A university might stage a small festival in its hometown. On the other end of the scale, the 2006 British Association Festival of Science held on September 2–9 in Norwich , England,

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1806-540: Was opened by documentary film-maker Alan Ereira , and featured over 50 events on topics of astronomy, archaeology, the Arctic, the science of a lost city, Vikings, the search for a lost undersea world, ancient catastrophes on Earth, and supermassive black holes. Speakers included astronomer and author Prof. Bill Napier of Buckingham University, Prof. Bonnie A. Steves of Glasgow Caledonian University, and archaeologist Dr. Cathy Batt from Bradford University. The 2014 festival

1849-547: Was opened by the former chief scientist of the Discovery Channel , Professor Steve ‘Jake’ Jacobs. Topics of the festival ranged from the origin of life in space, to clues from genetics to the people of the Viking Age. 2015 marks the 25th festival. In 2015, the "International Year of Light" will be a theme of the festival, featuring a conversation with Nobel Prizewinner Peter Higgs , and with highlights including

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