5 Years of Science Fun: 2015 Bay Area Science Festival Draws its Largest Crowd

The Bay Area Science Festival has grown in just five years to become the region’s largest science education event, with two weeks of exhibitions, talks and parties all dedicated to celebrating the wonders of science.

The festival capped off with Discovery Day at AT&T Park on Nov. 7, drawing a record crowd of 33,000 people. Participants watched robots in action, did colorful chemistry experiments, and learned about the human brain by touching a real specimen.  

A centerpiece of the event was UC San Francisco’s Amputee Comprehensive Training (ACT) program, which invited amputee patients down to the field for their annual evaluations. Event participants learned about prosthetics by watching how they move and trying on prosthetic arms to feel how they work.

The festival is organized by the Science & Health Education Partnership at UCSF, which supports quality science education for K-12 students. This year, more than 500 faculty, staff and students volunteered their time for the Discovery Day event.