Celebrating STEM Virtually: The Bay Area Science Festival During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Founded in 2011, the Bay Area Science Festival (BASF), led by the Science & Health Education Partnership (SEP) at UC San Francisco, brings together academic, scientific, corporate and civic groups to develop and lead STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) events for all ages. From 2011-2019, the Festival hosted over 50 events each year, reaching tens of thousands of people. In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Festival pivoted to a virtual format, offering nearly 150 virtual events over five days. Events included hands-on science experiments, STEM storytimes, live interviews with scientists, demonstrations, behind-the-scenes tours and more. Nearly 18,700 unique users from over 35 countries have logged 82,100 views of Festival events to date. In a post-Festival survey, attendees rated their experience similarly to previous years and over 60% of attendees are interested in attending virtual events even when in-person events are again possible. Like many aspects of our lives, the Bay Area Science Festival will look different in future years as a result of the pandemic: a hybrid Festival made up of virtual and in-person events. While there are great benefits to in-person events, we have also come to better understand the benefits of virtual ones.