A statewide science festival, billed as the first of its kind in the nation, gets under way Saturday with BugFest 2010 in downtown Raleigh, plus a variety of other events across the state.
The N.C. Science Festival is modeled after similar regional science celebrations in San Diego and Boston but spans from the coast to the mountains and includes programs, lectures, demonstrations, lessons, tours and other fare. Events run through Sept. 26.
Among the highlights will be an appearance Sept. 19 by the two stars of "MythBusters," a popular Discovery Channel TV program. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, famous for testing ideas using impressive explosions, will lead a 90-minute program with outtakes and behind-the-scenes experiences from the show.
In addition, Sept. 25 will be UNC Science Expo Day on the Chapel Hill campus, with a lecture by Nobel laureate Oliver Smithies, demonstrations of catapults and virtual reality, a NASCAR car exhibition, and hands-on activities for kids.
In all, more than 400 events are planned throughout the state - from tree mapping in Cherokee to an ocean adventure in Wilmington.
Todd Boyette, director of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center in Chapel Hill, said organizers hope the science festival becomes an annual event showcasing the state's scientific advances, much as the N.C. State Fair celebrates the state's agrarian culture.
"I really think the science festival could become as much a fabric of life in North Carolina as the State Fair, because we're celebrating the 21st century economy in North Carolina, which is science and technology-based," Boyette said.
Boyette said the idea for the festival arose about a year ago as a national science fair in Washington was scaling up. That program, which is scheduled for October, includes satellite festivals in states throughout the country.
North Carolina's festival is one of those satellite programs, but rather than wait until October, Boyette said his team at the planetarium decided to hold events in September.
"We didn't want to cannibalize interest in the national festival," he said.
With a budget of about $500,000, much of it in donated services or goods from corporate sponsors, the festival is financing new events such as the MythBusters appearance and the Expo on the UNC-CH campus, while also pairing with existing programs such as the BugFest.
Officials at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh - which has held BugFest as a September staple for the past 14 years - were pleased to link with the inaugural science festival this year, according to communications director Jon Pishney.
"It's been great for us," Pishney said. "Just being part of something statewide is awesome. We love the collaboration."
Boyette said the science festival, which emphasizes science in our everyday lives with the slogan "Life is Your Lab," aspires to be a regular fall event, but he could not say whether it would be held annually.
"None of us want this to be a one-year deal," he said. "We've worked too hard and care too much. We can't imagine just doing it once."
