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The Astrofestival is arranged principally by the Institute of Physics at the University of Oslo, with contributions of varied and unusual activities by the Astrophysics Institute, the Norwegian Astronautical Society, the Physics Association and the Teknoteket Science Circus.
The main attraction is “The planet field”, a 500-metre-long scale model of the solar system that visitors walk through, guided in the dark.
The children’s space hunt is a quest for knowledge by answering questions, posted on stands manned by adults dressed as aliens. There’s also an astronaut costume competition and a Lego space ship building contest for children. Films are shown, talks are given, and there are visits to the planetarium.
Visitors can see the planets and stars through various telescopes. An Astrolottery is held, and the Astroshop sells books, space ship model kits, solar system models and real meteorites. The Festival concludes with a fireworks show.
A school calendar is made each year in connection with the Festival and is sent free to all eighth-year pupils throughout the country and to all seventh-year pupils in the Oslo region. The calendar features impressive pictures from astronomy and spaceflight, astronomical dates, astronautical riddles and theme pages. The calendar is sent out along with announcements of two contests for eighth grade pupils, one for the best essay and one for the best picture on space topics.
