Science Festival may not mean what we think it means: an analysis of how researchers and practitioners use this term

The modern science festival movement has grown significantly since the Edinburgh International Science Festival launched in 1989. Hundreds of science festivals now occur annually and vary widely. This article examines how the term science festival is used within research and practice. We find that most research articles fail to describe the science festivals they study. A subsequent analysis of festival websites and other publicly available information confirms the wide variability of science festival formats, which suggests the need for descriptive information about science festivals in scholarly work.

Automated summary

The modern science festival movement has significantly grown with hundreds of festivals occurring annually in various formats. However, research articles often lack descriptions of the festivals they study, highlighting the need for more descriptive information about science festivals.