Edinburgh science fest in Bangalore from Aug 30

A 10-day Edinburgh International Science Festival (EISF) will be held at the Bharatiya City complex here from Aug 30.

It is primarily for school and college students with a slew of programmes, workshops and cultural events.

Being held for the first time in India, the fest will have 15 interactive workshops, live shows, exhibitions and experience zones for every age group in the fields of health, solar power, astronomy and math.

"The fest is coming to India for the first time since EISF was founded 25 years ago (1989) to engage youth and spark their curiosity in science and technology. We plan to showcase our works in a country that is making advances in science and technology," festival director and chief executive Simon Gage told reporters here Thursday.

Organised by Bharatiya City in association with the Scottish government, British Council and other partners, the fest intends to make science fun for young minds and promote culture, science and technology.

About 50,000 visitors, including schoolchildren and their parents, are expected to visit the fest that will end Sep 8.

Among the planned events is the emergency room surgery through which students will gain first-hand experience in the working of an operation theatre and what it's like to be a doctor.

"Each student will help in treating a leg wound and perform keyhole surgery using real surgical equipment. They will gain experience in removing a cyst and learning how and why blood samples are taken," Gage said.

Similarly, at Splatastic, students will explore properties of different polymers and make colourful gooey snakes, observe a liquid-to-solid chemical reaction, produce designer slime and test it on Splatometer.

In Adventure Robots, participants will build and control Lego Mindstorm Robots by learning to use basic computer programming software.

"In Math Masters, students will learn tips and tricks for super fast mental math calculations and solve puzzles to develop lateral thinking," Gage said.

As an educational charity that encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to discover the wonders of the world around them, the Edinburgh fest showcases benefits of science in partnership with overseas science festivals and an education programme that tours worldwide.

Discovery Kids, Horlicks Promind, Art Konnect and mycitykids.com are the partners of the fest.

British Deputy High Commissioner Ian Felton, Bharatiya group founder chairman Snehdeep Aggarwal and Discover Networks Asia-Pacific vice-president Rahul Johri were present at the preview.

Spread over 125 acres of land, Bharatiya is an integrated city with residential, commercial, IT, special economic zone, hotels, convention and retail outlets.