TECHFEST’s 2021 digital festival of STEM officially wrapped up yesterday (Wednesday, December 1), with a festive finale event that encouraged the audience to get into the holiday spirit.
Attendees of The Natural History of Christmas learned all about popular traditions and found out why the likes of holly, ivy and mistletoe are so significant at this time of the year.
Audiences also discovered how the robin, a famous bird during the festivities, became linked with Christmas and revealed why the world thinks reindeers can fly.
Presented by Dr Michael Leach, the highly illustrated talk concluded TechFest’s 25 days of Live digital public programme.
TechFest’s festival of STEM is supported by joint principal sponsors, bp and Shell, with the public programme also being sponsored by Equinor.
Continuing to provide engaging resources for the whole family throughout the festive period. the educational charity has officially started the Christmas countdown, launching its first STEM advent calendar.
TechFest’s 24 days of STEM is complete with facts, activities, STEMspiration challenges and jokes and is a chance to keep the family inspired and learning throughout the holidays, while showing how STEM surrounds even celebratory events.
Managing director at TechFest, Sarah Chew said: “As 25 days of Live comes to an end, the TechFest team is extremely proud of producing another highly successful digital festival.
“This is the second year we moved our festival programme to be online, which we felt the best way to accommodate audiences so they felt comfortable but still had access to a huge variety of events, talks and workshops.
“More than 20 events featured in this year’s programme, covering various STEM sectors and industries and being able to conclude with a festive finale is a great start to the holiday season.”
TechFest has also created a STEM advent calendar for families to have fun with over the next few weeks.
Sarah added: “We created our STEM advent calendar as we know families are always looking for things to do to keep entertained during the school breaks and building excitement around STEM is one of our main priorities. Introducing a STEM challenge each morning is rewarding and exciting for all those involved and we look forward to hearing how everyone found the calendar.”
The 2021 festival programme hosted an exciting and eclectic mix of events over three weeks and included both live and on demand events delivered via Zoom, Facebook and through interactive activities.
