From curiosity to commitment: exploring the longevity of science festival impacts one year post-event

Abstract

Science festivals are known to boost aspects of science capital in the short term, but little work has been done to determine their longer-term impacts. We surveyed festival participants one year after attendance, and found that a large proportion retained knowledge acquired during the experience. Many had also been prompted to take further science-related actions, and some reported sustained impacts from previous visits 3+ years previously. We propose two mechanisms by which such a transient event can have long-term impacts; the role of curiosity in facilitating knowledge acquisition, and the experiential nature of festivals which prompts a cycle of learning.