The 2012 USA Science and Engineering Festival was a huge success this past weekend! More than 150,000 attendees battled the rain, traffic and crowds to celebrate science at the Convention Center!

The Festival would not have been possible without the hard work of our amazing volunteers! Over 750 volunteers dedicated their valuable time and showed incredible patience and enthusiasm during their shifts at the Festival. We are so grateful to ALL of you! We received wonderful feedback about our exhibitors and the amazing hands-on activities. Exhibitors made each person feel welcome and thoroughly explained their activities to attendees of all ages. And finally, we are so thankful for the extraordinary generosity of our sponsors and Festival Host Lockheed Martin.

With over 3,000 exhibits and 150 stage shows, there are so many wonderful Festival moments to highlight. Our Festival Host Lockheed Martin surprised us all with a few last minute additions including presentations by US Olympic Speed Skaters and cast members of NCIS Los Angeles. R2D2 made a special appearance along with our science celebrities including astronauts, Bill Nye, the Mythbusters, Mayim Bialik and NAO the robot! It was quite apparent that kids of all ages explored their “inner scientist” and had an amazing time at the Festival!

Bill Nye the Science Guy delighted crowds all weekend long! Watch this clip courtesy of The Epoch Times:

We received quite a number of comments and suggestions via email, twitter and Facebook. Twitter followers were tweeting and posting pictures all weekend long! We greatly appreciate all of the feedback and will definitely take it all into consideration for the next celebration!

Here are some of our favorite comments:

C.N. writes: “I can’t say enough good things about this event! It was wonderful to see so many children so engaged with science, and clearly having fun at the same time! This was probably the best children’s festival I have ever attended. Please bring it back to DC next year!”

C.J. writes: “What a FABULOUS Festival! You guys outdid yourselves. The exhibits and volunteers were wonderful. Loved all the cool giveaways, especially Lockheed Martin’s blue lighty necklace. Wish we could have seen more… I too am home resting my feet! Thank you!”

NAEYC writes: “It was wonderful to see so many families at the Festival, and teachers who came from a distance to get ideas for their program.”

Exhibitor SEM Link writes: “Thank you USA Science & Engineering Festival for allowing SEM Link to be a Partner and Exhibitor for the 2nd US Science and Engineering Festival Grand Finale and Expo. We had a blast and look forward to participating in next year’s festival.”

J.B. writes: “Whoever came up with the idea of the Science Festival should be congratulated. It made science fun for my children to learn about.”

And one of the best comments we received in response to the enormous crowds that attended the Festival was from L.Y. “How nice to see people excited about science and engineering! Nice switch from what people usually complain about…..lines, crowds at concerts, sporting events, etc! Maybe we are making progress!”

Once again, we appreciate all of the feedback and please continue to share your favorite Festival moments on our Facebook page! Stay connected with the Festival and thank you all again your support and enthusiasm! We hope that the Festival inspired you to see that with hard work, dedication and of course the desire to dream big the possibilities are endless!

Enjoy this wonderful recap of Day 1 of the Expo by Festival Sponsor ENGINEERING.com: