BOLTON Food and Drink Festival 2016 took place over four days at the end of August. As well as running workshops and events, the region’s finest food vendors and artisan producers showcased their wares at stalls throughout the town centre. There was plenty to keep little ones entertained too with a whole festival within a festival called Mad Science that took over the historic Le Mans Crescent outside Bolton Museum, Aquarium and Archive.
The twins’ favourite experiment was the slime-making stall.
Science experiment stalls bubbled over with boffins and happy faces. Hands-on experiments were the order of the day and there was a passport available for £2.50 which could be stamped at each stand. Bubbles and whirlpools were going off left, right and centre and my twins were in their element.
Highlights included the Vortex Zone where kids were challenged with blow out candles from three metres away using a ‘vortex cannon’. This was a drum with a big rubber sheet stuck on the back that creates a forward-moving whirlpool in the air when hit.
Another experiment was made from two bottles stuck together. Coloured water in one half was whirled around to demonstrate why water forms a whirlpool when it goes down your plughole. ‘Water is lazy’, the scientist told us, explaining that gravity makes a spiraling shape the easiest way for water to pass through a small hole.
The twins’ favourite experiment was the slime-making stall. Young scientists got to choose a colour, before making a goop from PVA solution and sodium borate. There was also a bike that generated electricity, balloons, selfie frames and much more. Bolton Museum had hands-on events running throughout the long weekend, and the Octagon theatre had turned into a seaside resort for the day, complete with coconut shy, donkey rides and even a beach! Have a look at our gallery below for a taste of the action.
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