April 7, 2005
Purdue Ag mixes education and entertainment at Spring Fest
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A sure sign that spring has arrived is Purdue University's Spring Fest, a two-day extravaganza of education and entertainment for all ages.
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Purdue Agriculture, the largest exhibitor at the campuswide event, will showcase a full spectrum of activities - from an antique tractor show to pedal-tractor obstacle course, from cockroaches running laps to horses running on a treadmill, and from the centuries-old tradition of milking cows by hand to 21st century interactive computer software.
Spring Fest takes place on the Purdue campus from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 17. The event is open to the public, and there is no admission fee. A map and a list of all events are available online or by calling the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service at (888) EXT-INFO.
Last year an estimated 40,000 people turned out for the two-day event, and the educational activities are a big draw for both families and schools, said Danica Kirkpatrick, Purdue Agriculture events coordinator.
"Spring Fest is listed in the Indiana festival guide and has become a statewide event," Kirkpatrick said. "Schools from around the state bring busloads of students, teachers and parents."
A good place to start the day is the information tent, which will have maps, a schedule of events, scavenger hunt questions and other related information. The tent will be located on State Street in front of the Agricultural Administration Building.
Purdue student groups will operate all concessions for food, event merchandise and a variety of games and activities with prizes. Proceeds benefit student organizations.
The following events will take place Saturday and Sunday:
• Bug Bowl will mark its 15th anniversary with cricket spitting, cockroach racing, insects, insect crafts, face painting, butterfly and honeybee exhibits, honey tasting, an insect petting zoo, exotic insect observation zoo, butterfly exhibit, and an insect-inspired cake decorating contest. Bug Bowl is sponsored by the Department of Entomology.
• Boiler Barnyard will feature dairy cow milking, sheep shearing demonstrations, interactive educational computer software, a coloring contest and animal trivia games. Boiler Barnyard is sponsored by the Department of Animal Sciences.
• Gardening enthusiasts can stock up on plants and get landscaping ideas at the 92nd annual Horticulture Show. A showcase garden designed and constructed by the Purdue Horticulture Society is the highlight of this event. This year's garden attraction is a café setting with water features, retaining walls, paver patios and a variety of plants.
• Explore the "World Down Under" by navigating a maze, painting a soil masterpiece, and shelling and grinding corn. These are among hands-on activities sponsored by the departments of Agronomy and Botany and Plant Pathology. Other activities include a puzzle dig, turf putting and a petting zoo.
• The Purdue Chapter of the Associated Landscape Contractors of America has created a backyard patio design and will be serving family-style barbeque.
• Learn about the science of flight, watch baby chicks interact with each other and eat ice cream at the Purdue Agriculture booth. Purdue students will be available to talk about campus life and opportunities in agriculture.
• The College of Consumer and Family Sciences will sponsor the Grand Prize Game, in which participants can earn play money and spend it on creepy-crawly prizes. Visitors also can have a "milk mustache" picture taken, win prizes playing a Wheel of Fortune, enjoy story time and jump in the Student Council moonwalk.
The following activities will be offered Saturday only:
• The Spring Fest Showcase will feature staged performances, including an insect magic show that takes the stage at 2 p.m. with magical illusions and demonstrations of unexplained phenomena of the insect world.
• The Boiler Brick Bowl pits teams of Purdue landscape architecture students against each other in a bricks-and-mortar competition to build lampposts. The teams will get a helping hand from local union brick mason apprentices.
• Academic Programs in Agriculture will offer education programs for middle school and high school students. Project Future is open to seventh- through ninth-graders, and Project Now is designed for high school collegebound students. To preregister, contact Mary Welch at (765) 494-8470, welchma@purdue.edu.
• Water, Wood and Wild Wonders, sponsored by the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, will give visitors a chance to climb a tree, watch a chainsaw carver, view live fish displays, meet Smokey Bear, identify wood and leaves, and see a tree "cookie" that is nearly two centuries old.
• The Marketing Madness display, sponsored by the Department of Agricultural Economics, will offer a variety of games and prizes. Visitors can play matching marketing, an import/export game, spin the wheel of marketing, KidsEcon bingo and the buzzer game.
• The Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering will present Old and New Iron, an exhibit of classic tractors from yesterday as well as those used today. There also will be a chance to win a children's playhouse and an opportunity for children to steer through a pedal-tractor obstacle course and color with soybean crayons.
• At the Food Science Fun Fair, children can create a personalized can bank using a canning press, use their senses to determine the flavor of drinks in a taste-testing and see how cotton candy is made.
• Through several learning activities at the Purdue Biochemistry Club display, visitors will learn about genetically modified organisms, discover how biochemistry helps advance agriculture, and explore how scientists use what they've learned to help plants and animals become resistant to disease, pests and weather.
• The annual School of Veterinary Medicine Open House, Scale, Fur or Feather, We Help Them All Together. The 42nd annual open house will include a live animal spay demonstration, zoo animals, exotic animal exhibit, dog and horse demonstrations, and facility tours. Staff will present admission information sessions for people interested in careers in veterinary medicine and technology.
Writer: Olivia Maddox, (765) 496-3207, maddoxol@purdue.edu
Source: Danica Kirkpatrick, (765) 494-9113, dkirkpat@purdue.edu
Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
Agriculture News Page
Related Releases:
Purdue's Spring Fest a fun prescription for spring fever
School of Veterinary Medicine to celebrate 42nd annual open house
PHOTO CAPTION:
Riley Kastens, 5, gets friendly with a day-old duckling at the petting zoo during the 2004 Purdue University Spring Fest. (Purdue file photo/Tom Campbell)
A publication-quality file photo is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2005/springfest-duck05.jpg
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