Last week, Fysikshow and a handful of physics students from the Department of Physics and Astronomy headed to Smukfest in Skanderborg with one clear goal: to communicate science to festivalgoers.

The event took place under the auspices of CERN’s traveling science outreach booth, the so-called CERN Science Pavilion. The entire experience was a resounding success, with more than 1,000 visitors from Wednesday to Saturday and 2,000 visitors on Sunday—a day traditionally known for attracting many children to the festival.

At the festival, you meet curious children, intoxicated adults, and everything in between. Some stopped by because they already found science interesting, while others were simply happy to experience something new. In this way, Fysikshow’s presence also served as great promotion for the many exciting talks held in the Science Pavilion.

“It’s been really cool to feel like we’re reaching a very diverse audience.”
– Fysikshow/student, William Jedig

Throughout all five festival days, visitors could enjoy entertaining physics experiments featuring, among other things, liquid nitrogen and electromagnetism. One highlight was a physics show where around 100 festivalgoers came to watch them play with alcohol (and maybe even learn a bit about it in the process).

So even though one might think people don’t go to festivals to learn about science, the recurring feedback was that the work was incredibly important. Many noted that it provided a welcome break from the otherwise chaotic and intense festival atmosphere.

The Fysikshow team is thrilled about the impact they made—and especially excited to return next year.