Abstract:

In the framework of the several public outreach activities of the Frascati National Laboratory of the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics, a leading position is taken for sure by the event named OpenLabs [1].
This is the annual event dedicated to the general public, held in May, lasting a whole day, from the morning to the evening. All the running laboratories and the experimental facilities can be visited with organized guided tours supported by INFN staff technicians and researchers.
Moreover, diverse science communication activities are specifically organized to maximally engage people of all the ages. Experimental show-lessons for kids, hands-on laboratories to learn the constituents of matter, escape rooms, planetariums, speed-date with the researchers, and a lot more.
The seminar program is complete as well. In the last years our auditorium stage hosted outstanding speakers, including reknown astronauts, prominent physicists and influencing youtubers.
Every year the event is attended by about 2000 people, plus 100 from INFN personell participating as guides, tutors and organizers. We are also helped by 100 high-school volunteer students assisting the visitors.
We have collected an important amount of feedback data from questionnaires submitted to the visitors and the staff as well, precious both for improving more and more the proposal, and for understanding the impact of this outreach initiative.
In this communication we will present an overview of the activities, the evolution of the format through the years and the feedbacks to share our experience.

References:
[1] http://www.lnf.infn.it/openlabs/

Keywords:

Public outreach, popular science.