June 10, 2024 – The small town of Garesnica and its surroundings seem to be a real little beehive of events. Whether that is about food, music, science, or all of the above – things are never dull. Head over this weekend and take your little ones to discover the Garesnica Infinity festival, also known as GIF, whose 4th edition is taking place on Friday and Saturday, June 14 and 15.
Last year’s edition, as written by Mojportal, caught the interest of preschoolers and schoolchildren, creating laughter, enthusiasm, queues in front of all the stands, proving it is not difficult to get children interested in science. The only things that matter are the approach and the presenter’s love and enthusiasm for the topic.
The 3rd Garesnica Infinity festival gathered more than 1,500 children, 150 educators and volunteers at 40 interactive and entertaining scientific workshops in one place.
“Every year we grow a little, it’s all falling into place and we are moving forward at full speed. I believe that we ignited the sparks of future projects, interests, and research. I would like to thank all participants, numerous small and large volunteers, as well as mentors for the wonderful workshops that develop creativity and practical skills that broaden horizons. But in addition to all that, I have to thank Intersnack Adria for the donation of snacks, which made the kids even more excited. Everyone is very happy with this year’s GIF edition. Those who went home send photos and write comments, and most of the comments were: “See you next year!”, which is the best comment we could get” said Margareta Miloš, one of the founders and organizers of GIF, and the president, of the SFERIA Association.
Some of the topics explored in this year’s workshops include robots, space, grass, bioplastics, virtual reality, LEGO, science & magic, painting with minerals, personalised soaps and so much more.
Kids teaching kids
The children and young volunteers are the bearers of all activities. It is nice to see children who present different parts of science to other children with so much enthusiasm and will. From the world of nature, through geography and history to the world of physics, mathematics, all the way to art. The attractions and activities included overseas trips, spices, computer science, Jackson Pollock and some traditional Croatian instruments, among other things. A real mishmash of experiences.
When asked about the interesting-sounding name of the festival, Mergareta Miloš shared: “Keeping in mind the fact that Vucelic and Robić were born in our city (and both were our inspiration for the festival), we looked at their careers and drew a parallel with the universe and music which are both infinite, and came together in our city so we decided to call our festival Infinity.
There are also endless possibilities of how workshops can be designed and implemented, it is only important that they are creative and fun and from the STE(A)M field.
It is an important task for us to motivate our children to study and empower them to become aware of the fact that it is not important where they were born – in a big city or in a small town or in the countryside, but that what matters is the effort, work and persistence they invest in what interests them and that they follow their dreams like Vucelić and Robić and then their success in life is guaranteed.”
