Festival History

Nov. 15, 2008 — Cool Science Day at UCCS (#1)

Cool Science alone organized this earliest beginning of the Colorado Springs Cool Science Festival: a day of free, informal, hands-on science activities–about 15 table-top stations in total–in the UCCS Old Gym (which today is the University Center “Ballroom”).  With some administrative help from UCCS’s Center for STEM Education (CSTEME), effort from about 20 volunteers, and the participation of 4 other organizations in our region–Catamount Institute, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs Utilities, and the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Research Center–this first Cool Science Day was geared toward kids ages 5-15 and treated the 400 to 500 kids and parents who came by to an afternoon of informal science fun and exploration.

Nov. 7, 2009 — Cool Science Day at UCCS (#2)

In 2009, Cool Science and UCCS’s CSTEME teamed up at the outset to organize and significantly expand the previous year’s Cool Science Day.  This year, with help now from 65 volunteers and 18 outside organizations, Cool Science Day #2 expanded throughout UCCS’s University Center building, presented 35 different informal science activity stations and added three 60-min science demonstration shows.  Again a free event but this time leveraging CSTEME’s broad network, Cool Science Day #2 drew nearly 2500 people from across the Pikes Peak region.

Sept 18, 2010 — The Colorado Springs Cool Science Festival (#1)

Built on the shoulders of the two earlier Cool Science Day events listed above, this year’s event was the first science Festival.  The Colorado Springs Science Center Project formally joined the organizing effort and helped the event’s steering committee move into a broader festival format and adopt a long-term vision of expanding the festival over the coming 3-5 years into a national caliber, multi-day, multi-venue event geared towards kids and adults.  2010′s “proof-of-concept” event was again held on the UCCS main campus.  The Festival expanded across 5 university buildings and enlisted 48 different organizations and 275 volunteers  to present over 60 informal hands-on science activities, 10 open-house laboratory tours, 3 science demonstration shows and 29 adult-oriented science talks over the day.  Also for the first time, this year’s event was facilitated in large part through the generous help of the following founding sponsors:  Agilent Technologies, Analytical Graphics Inc., Colorado Springs Utilities, The Edmondson Foundation, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman.  The first annual Colorado Springs Cool Science Festival drew 3400 people and set the foundation for the expansion of this year’s event.