MORE than 5,000 people will descend on Bonn Square this weekend to have a scientifically engineered blast.

The two-week Oxfordshire Science Festival kicks off on Saturday providing hands-on fun for the county’s youngsters.

Organiser Renee Watson said: “We are bringing science to the streets of Oxford and we can’t wait to get people busy doing experiments, asking questions and seeing just how fun science can be.

“You can come along for two minutes or two hours. It is all free and hopefully you will leave feeling like science is something that is part of your life not just something that happens in a lab.”

Saturday’s Science in Your Worldfair will see demonstrations from different organisations. Dragon School pupils will demonstrate using solar energy to power electrical items and the Oxford University physics department will host hands-on experiments to help youngsters understand the world.

One of the exhibitions taking place will be at Oxford Castle by Harwell’s synchrotron the Diamond Light Source.

A synchrotron produces incredibly bright light and can produce X-rays one billion times brighter than the Sun focused onto a spot smaller than a pin prick. This can be used to examine the finest structure of materials, develop new drugs and preserve historical artefacts.

Laura Holland, Diamond’s outreach manager, said: “Visitors to our photo gallery will go on a journey that charts the five-year development of the largest science facility to be built in the UK for 40 years.

“The Oxford Castle Quarter is a stunning backdrop.”

Ms Watson added: “We’ll explore some really interesting topics, the sort of thing you can imagine yourself talking about with your friends.

“Does red wine help your heart? How does my new 3D TV actually work? Did you know I can make candy floss using a bike?

“You don’t have to be an economist to talk about money and you don’t need to be a scientist to talk about science.”

The Science Festival runs from Saturday until Sunday, March 18 and there will be a chance to learn about volcanos and coins as well as experiment with liquid nitrogen.

Science in Your World will run between 10am and 4pm.

Oxfordshire Science Festival has been running since 2008 and has grown to feature nearly 100 events.

It is a partnership between Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University, Science Oxford, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the Medical Research Council.

For full listings, visit oxfordshiresciencefestival.co.uk