When I think of attending a carnival on a Saturday afternoon, I think of clowns, cotton candy, farris wheels, and amusement booths. The Cambridge Science Festival is hosting a “Carnival” this Saturday as a kick-off event to their 10-day festival. But, there will not be clowns or cotton candy or any of the things that first come to mind when I think of carnival except for the booths. What can you expect from this so called “carnival”?
When you walk up to the attraction booths, you will not be handed a handful of darts and asked to pop the water-balloons to receive a prize. Rather, you may be asked to spit in a cup to sequence your DNA or maybe asked to peek into a suitcase that contains fiber optics made out of Jell-O.
According to the festivals website the “Carnival” will feature many interesting attractions and hands-on workshops that will allow you the opportunity to make ice cream using liquid nitrogen, sequence your DNA, build electrical circuits, explore your brain, learn about cancer drug development and sustainability projects, and much much more.
You will not attend the traditional clown show; rather you will attend a Laser Show to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the laser. Instead of watching clowns juggle, you will see chemists make science come to life.
When I go to a carnival, I want to see clowns and I want cotton candy. But, I guess, as a scientist, I could settle for something else. Do you think carnivals need clowns and cotton candy? I will leave it up to you to decide this weekend.
The carnival will be from 12pm-4pm this Saturday (April 24th) at the Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway. There will be free shuttles from Harvard Sq, Cambridge Public Library, Museum of Science, Kendall T, Stata Center, MIT Museum, and Central Sq. Please visit the Cambridge science festival web page for more information.
What a fascinating comparison! Looking forward to seeing just what this years festival will have in store for me!
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