Scifest Africa, South Africa's largest science festival, treated this year’s visitors to a guided journey through the mysteries of science. The theme for 2017, Tour de Science, references the United Nations International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

Celebrating its 21st anniversary, Scifest focused on "edutourism" - travel for the purpose of learning - in scientific facilities across Africa. Visitors were taken on an expedition exploring the milestones, discoveries and excitement of various fields of science, including space science.

The festival was held at the Settlers Monument and Rhodes University Campus in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. Following last year's success, a satellite event was again held at Joza Indoor Sports Centre in Joza township, giving local learners easier access to the festival experience.

Scifest featured over 600 events including lectures, interactive exhibitions, workshops, educational theatre, field trips, a soap box derby, laser shows, quizzes, science Olympiads, a film fest, science shows and tours. Key events included aquatic science activities at Water World and the chance to "speed-date a scientist". Learners, educators, students and adults alike enjoyed the wide variety of stands representing national and international science-based organisations in the exhibition hall.

The Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor officially opened the festival on 10 March 2017. She encouraged young women to become more involved in science and technology, and told the science facilities to keep communicating science to learners and the general public as a whole. The Minister also urged the learners to overcome their fear of mathematics and science:

“We must never tire of repeating to all the scholars of South Africa that science, mathematics and technology are really important areas for our young people to take up as a subject of interest, because these are what we call gateway subjects. They open up the world for young people and I think Scifest is doing a very important task for us of ensuring that we reach thousands of young people, that we introduce them to science and technology innovations, that we recognise young people who are doing well in science and technology, and that we engage the public so that they have a great knowledge of science."

The official opening also included the Brandvlei Stofskoppers, a rieldans troupe from Brandvlei in the Northern Cape, who received a standing ovation and calls of “Encore!”

The troupe’s visit to the festival was supported by SKA SA, and included participation by the learners and their educator, Thomas Arendse, in festival activities. Lead female dancer, Luwandri Schräder, said that the highlights of the troupe’s festival experience included the Scifest Africa laser show; meeting NASA Deputy Chief Technologist (Ret.), Jim Adams; and the science show by Germany’s Die Physikanten. “It was also a wonderful experience staying in a school hostel with learners from other provinces. Many of us have never travelled outside of the Northern Cape province, and learning about other South African cultures was eye-opening.”

This year, the “Pop-Up” Water World venue celebrated its fifth anniversary. Hosted by NRF-SAIAB and funded by the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP), Water World is an official Scifest venue for aquatic related displays and activities.

Under the Scifest 2017 theme Tour de Science, the idea was to embark on a journey exploring the milestones, accomplishments, mysteries, discoveries, and the historic and exciting wonders of aquatic science.

There was wholehearted engagement by NRF-SAIAB researchers, postdocs, interns and students at Water World this year, through numerous interactive exhibits such as Fishy Cams: underwater spying which detailed how fish populations can be monitored using digital video footage and Ocean Acidification in a cup, where simple experiments demonstrated how climate change occurs.

The apprenticeships that NRF-SAIAB offers are always popular. This year learners extracted DNA in NRF-SAIAB’s Molecular Laboratory with Laboratory Manager, Taryn Bodill, and prepared tissue samples for DNA barcoding and fish identification with Senior Scientist, Dr Gavin Gouws. The popular annual excursion to the coast had a bus-full of learners heading off for a morning exploring estuaries with NRF-SAIAB Principal Scientist, Professor Alan Whitfield.

Marine biology was also front row in the SAEON exhibition: "We used a range of tools such as the Magic Planet at the SAEON stand to explain environmental topics such as weather and climate patterns, natural disasters and ocean currents," says Leila Nefdt of SAEON’s Egagasini Node. "We used dried specimens of invertebrates in conjunction with the Invertebrate Identification Guides that SAEON’s Dr Lara Atkinson has been compiling over the years to explain what kind of life, more specifically benthic organisms, can be found in our oceans."

"Having the opportunity to share the knowledge that we have gained through our studies and SAEON internship was an amazing way of giving back to the community, as we had many learners interested in the science that SAEON focuses on," Leila explains. "Seeing a child’s face light up after finding out what kind of animals I work with as a marine biologist was an immensely rewarding feeling."

SKA SA had a successful experience at SciFest 2017 as well, wining third place for best exhibition, just behind CSIR and Mintek who took first and second place respectively.

The SKA SA exhibition used hands-on activities to take visitors on a journey of discovery through the Universe, Milky Way and Solar System to the SKA site in the Northern Cape. The winning team consisted of SKA SA staff members Thobela Baxana, Mpho Lephaila, Simphiwe Zitha, Ofaletse Mokone, Isabella Rammalla and Mariet Venter, as well as Rhodes University students, Nhlakanipho Mthembu and Samuel Twum. The SKA SA team also facilitated two interactive workshops titled “Colour by numbers” and “RFI Detective”.