ORGANISERS of the Oxfordshire Science Festival (OSF) have promised this year’s will be the best yet.

More than 100 events will take place to make science fun for everyone.

The month-long festival kicks off in Bonn Square, Oxford, on February 26 with a free science fair featuring levitating magnets, bike-powered computers, model brains and a cutting-edge microscope.

Festival manager Renee Watson said: “Thanks to audience feedback from the past two years, we’ve been able to develop a new and improved launch event that will appeal to a large and diverse audience of amateur science fans, Saturday shoppers and maybe even some tourists.

“This year we’ve got 20 science stalls run by organisations from across the county and hope that there’ll be something for everyone.

“For the first time in 2011 we will be challenging people to spot the giant molecules that will be in and around the central Oxford shopping district, where local scientists will be getting people of all ages involved in their street science experiments.”

Schools, pubs and shopping centres will host events.

Experts from Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford Inspires, the University Museum of Natural History, Science Oxford, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics will take part.

Last year’s festival attracted 23,000 visitors.

Ms Watson added: “Even the biggest science-phobe can enjoy the festival.

“OSF is as much about science in everyday life as it is about cutting-edge inventions and what happens in labs.”

Prof Marcus du Sautoy, festival patron and adviser, said: “Oxfordshire is world famous for outstanding scientific discoveries and we have some of the greatest minds working on our doorstep.

“The OSF gives you the opportunity to meet and talk to world-class scientists and have a go at science yourself.”

  • The festival runs until March 20. Visit oxfordshiresciencefestival.co.uk