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Questival is Ekoli’s annual free and inclusive science festival: where everything revolves around making science accessible to every child and youngster. 🔬✨
Together with inspiring scientists, researchers, and partners, we show children and youngsters through hands-on experiments that science is for everyone.
Because every child has it in them to discover, experiment, and create with science. And above all: to become everything they dream of. 💙
On Saturday, May 9, we transformed the campus of Odisee & KU Leuven in Ghent once again into a true science paradise. Even before the doors officially opened, the first visitors were already waiting. Children who wanted to stop by quickly before heading to their school fair. Youth organizations that had been counting down for weeks. That enthusiasm immediately set the tone for what would become an unforgettable day.
Under a radiant sun ☀️ we welcomed more than 500 visitors and made this fourth edition one of the most beautiful yet. To everyone who came by: thank you for your trust in us, and your growing enthusiasm for Questival!
The heart of Questival is the experiment market — a vibrant collection of interactive booths where visitors get hands-on with all kinds of experiments and activities. From generating energy on a bicycle to steering a ship with a ship simulator, from a bacteria safari to making your own prints with seaweed: at every booth there was something to discover, try, and understand.
This year no fewer than 15 partners took part: Hogeschool Odisee, KU Leuven Ghent Campus, Merck Group, 3M, BioLizard, IBM, IMDC, Ghent University, Sarah Verkempinck, University of Antwerp, Skillz vzw, RVO-Society with Brightlab, GelijkgeSTEMdplus network, and iGEM. Organizations that each came to inspire with full passion and dedication.
And that is exactly what makes Questival so unique: the festival is carried by an entire network of people who believe that science is for everyone and should be accessible to every child, regardless of background or prior knowledge.
Anyone who thought science could only be experienced in lab coats was mistaken. Alongside a number of our popular escape rooms — The Curse of Hatshepsut and Trip Around the Moon — we also challenged visitors this year with a brand-new escape room: Blackout Brigade:
A team of engineers is caught in a power outage. Alarms go off. A dangerous chemical reaction is threatening. The team has 30 minutes to solve the puzzles and bring the situation back under control. ⚡ Will they manage?
The escape room was once again a huge hit with young visitors. A big thank you to our team of volunteers who co-developed this escape room: Ruth, Anna, Victor, Arne, Thomas, Victoria, Anne.
In addition to the experiment market and escape rooms, visitors could also take part in more in-depth workshops. Children built their own telescope, which they immediately took outside to use. Or they did hands-on fossil research: discovering the different properties of fossils, learning how to distinguish them from one another, and of course doing their own excavations. Science is doing, touching, understanding. By stepping into the shoes of a scientist, participants truly take something away with them. 💙
AVS also headed to the Rabotwijk to capture the atmosphere of Questival. In the report, Sirarpi, coordinator of Ekoli, explains why organizing this kind of event is so important: children and young people growing up in vulnerable neighborhoods often don’t naturally come into contact with science. The talent and interest are there — with initiatives like these we create opportunities for children to discover those talents and passions, and empower them to pursue them.
Enjoy the atmosphere photos in the gallery below.
Already interested in collaborating for the next edition? Feel free to get in touch via the form below.
Questival does not exist without the people who believe in it. All the sponsors, all the partners who provide a wonderful program, all the volunteers who come and help with full passion and energy. And of course: all the visitors who place their trust in us year after year. You make this possible. And we feel that with every edition. ❤️
Sponsors:
Streekfonds Oost-Vlaanderen, King Baudouin Foundation, Hogeschool Odisee, KU Leuven Ghent Campus, VIB, Merck Group, 3M, Milcobel, Pur Natur nv, Eos Wetenschap, Wolfcarius, Fairy Positron, TAO Family, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Ghent University, IMDC, Hogeschool Odisee, Lions Club Gavere Rhodeland.
Workshops by:
Hogeschool Odisee , KU Leuven Ghent Campus, Merck Group, 3M, BioLizard, IBM, IMDC, Ghent University, Sarah Verkempinck, University of Antwerp, Skillz vzw, RVO-Society, Brightlab, GelijkgeSTEMdplus netwerk, & iGEM.
Volunteers:
team Ekoli, team Lions Club Gavere Rhodeland, team Compagnie Cordial, everyone who signed up to help our team out, and of course our inspiring youngsters from vzw Jong, who tirelessly guided workshops until the very last moment!
Thank you!!
Already keen to collaborate for the next edition, or do you have another idea? Contact us via the form below!
We look forward to meeting you and exploring together what we can mean for you and/or your organization.
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