Attendance at Science Festival rose by 20%

Abu Dhabi: More than 120,000 visitors attended the second edition of the Abu Dhabi Science Festival which wrapped up on Saturday, festival organisers Technology Development Committee (TDC) announced in a statement on Sunday.

The attendance at the 11-day festival this year was 20 per cent more than the number of people who had attended the nine-day event in 2011.

Among the visitors were more than 20,000 pupils from 224 schools who visited the festival as part of organised school tours set up in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Education Council.

“Science and technology are at the heart of our country’s vision to develop a knowledge-based economy. This year’s festival has reached out to more people throughout the emirate of Abu Dhabi than ever before. The increase in visitor numbers this year...is a clear indication that the Abu Dhabi Science Festival is relevant...Our aim is to embed the importance of science and technology in the minds of future generations,” Ahmad Al Khalili, director general at TDC, said.

This year, more than 800 university students trained as science communicators also participated in the festival to convey scientific concepts to school children.

Community engagement

Engagement with the wider community was another focus of the festival this year. This was facilitated through a series of outreach initiatives, including a school tour by two mascots of the Festival, ‘Hamad’ and ‘Fatima’, to promote it to pupils and teachers. Shopping mall activities, where a daily show played at four malls spread over the emirate, also displayed science in action to members of the public.

“This year’s success is motivating, but we are engaged in a long-term project to build our nation’s future human capital. Planning has already started to ensure we deliver an even better festival next year,” Al Khalili said.