The Illinois Valley Community College is reopening a tradition known as Scifest on April 21, 2023 at 7-9 pm in the IVCC gym, after a three year hiatus due to Covid.

The crowd-favorite event which has been suppressed after the pandemic is making a grandiose return this spring! It is an event for the kids as well as the adults, there is no age-requirement for fun.

Scifest will take place in the Illinois Valley Community College gymnasium, directly in front of the College, and will feature interesting activities and experiments that involve all the sciences, minus the headaches. These science activities include chemistry, biology, geology, and physics.

Illinois Valley Community College Chem/Stem advisor Dr. Johll is ecstatic for the return of the much anticipated event. Dr. Johll will be involved in organizing Scifest, as well as assisting and participating in multiple different experiments and activities.

There is more to the fest than science however, as students in the Stem/Chem Club help to organize the event, and learn many important things outside of science. The students according to Dr. Johll gets to experience and observe what goes into organizing public events.

“Scifest this year will feature an inflatable planetarium, an imploding barrel, and NASA collected Lunar Moon Samples. The samples were collected over the course of multiple Lunar missions!”

The event is known to happen on the third Friday of April, as the almost 60 year tradition is resurrected for the spring of 2023. On a slow year there can be hundreds of aspiring scientific minds ready to indulge in the over 60 experiments and activities at Scifest.

Participants can expect their night to be filled with fun as well as learning. Dr. Johll claims that there will not only be entertainment for children, but will feature more intense experiments that volunteers can take part in.

One experiment, and Dr. Johll’s personal favorite is the imploding barrel. It’s a captivating experiment that involves an implosion…who doesn’t like things that blow up?

Richard L. Ault, chemistry instructor, is excited to see the return of Scifest as well. When asked about his favorite experiment, he implied that the finale is when the event really gets interesting.

“Just wait until you see Dr. Johlls signature experiment.”

The finale at Scifest will feature Dr. Johll putting physics to the test, and putting himself in the face of danger! Come to Scifest on April 21 to find out what happens to Dr. Johll.

Scifest Flyer