The Science Festival Alliance (SFA) has helped to spark and support dozens of independent festival initiatives in the US and abroad. But the SFA got its start in 2009 with a single grant from the National Science Foundation. This three-year project launched the Philadelphia and Bay Area Science Festivals, and included evaluation of those festivals as well as the Cambridge and San Diego Science Festivals. A final evaluation report for the project is now complete, and we have put together a shorter summary of those findings into a new PDF document now available here.

Whether you are involved in a festival or not, there are some great learning points in this report. For example, did you know that interaction with a STEM practitioner is the greatest predictor of positive learning outcomes in a festival event? And the more different types of interaction available, the greater the impact. To find more gems like this, read the report!