The organisers of Caithness International Science Festival 2022 were delighted to report over 1500 visitors attended its Fun Day event on Saturday.
After hosting online events over the last couple of years due to Covid restrictions it was seen as a welcome return for the popular CISF 2022 Fun Day held in Wick High School.
"I'm really pleased with the turnout today and with all the enthusiasm everyone showed," said Professor Iain Baikie, chair of Science 03 which organises the CISF.
"It was brilliant to restart the festival again and I think it's been a great success. We've had online talks as part of this festival and there are more next week but it's so great to be back with a physical presence in the schools and to be interacting with the public again."
Though there were over 1500 attendees at the CISF 2022 Fun Day on Saturday, Prof Baikie said that numbers were down by around 800 after the record high of the March 2019 event. "That's entirely understandable, however. There are less older people here but there are more families.
"We also had special animal shows that were packed out and we hope to have them back again when we run the festival again in March. We've had 23 presenters and it's such a wide range that there's always something interesting. The Youth Club doing the café meant there was somewhere to sit as well.
"It's been really special and I have to thank all the presenters for coming – both the STEM ambassadors as well as the professionals, as they really bring some magic to town."
Professor Baikie said that CISF will be back for it's usual time slot in March next year. "I'm looking forward to getting back to normal and organising all the fundraising for that. It should be really good and I'm looking forward to keeping it going."
Wick High School computing science teacher Chris Aitken was showing children basic soldering on the day as part of a display by Caithness Amateur Radio Society (CARS). "It's been absolutely fantastic," he said.
"Everyone had a hands on event and that's the best way to learn. You get kids involved by getting them stuck in and giving everything a go. There are so many different experiences here for kids, it's fantastic." Chris added that though he was essentially teaching children on his day off he said "if you're having fun it's not really classed as work".
Ron Gunn, who was at CISF 2022 as a committee member of Science 03, had taken a tally of the numbers coming in that day. "The numbers are really good and everybody has really enjoyed it," he said.
"A lot of kids have been playing with different bits and pieces and learning at the same time. It's been really successful and we've even got two tractors outside and the fire service came along, so the kids are loving that too."
A number of events ran inside and outside the campus with fire engines, vintage tractors, a special glass furnace display and a satellite tracking device set up by CARS.
There are various free events that are still to be held as part of the CISF 2022 and more information can be found at: www.science03.org/events/
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