Physics day in Vilnius University, Lithuania – 50 years of popularity and fun
Every year in April, Vilnius is shaken up by a big demonstration of physicists and followers in the main streets of the Capital of Lithuania. The demonstration, consisting of students and alumni from the Faculty of physics with flags and a huge dinosaur in front, move to the Faculty of Philology to meet ladies of poetry and fiction. That hilarious demonstration will be repeated for the 47th time since 1972 when students succeeded to get permission in the Soviet time for a demonstration organised by non-governmental bodies. Therefore, everybody in Vilnius knows that physicists are a most active and most creative academic community. The Physics Day started in 1969, and this event targets youth.
The demonstration is noisy thanks to them, but it’s not the most important part of the fiesta. Main events all day are arranged in the fields outside the faculty building – it is Fizland (Land of Physics), a land of attractions which are created by students and in all cases present physical phenomena. They included a railway where the train moves without friction and with liquid nitrogen as its fuel, huge fibre optics models made from dozens of meters of mirrors, standing waves of fire arranged using musical voices, heating of sausages by electricity produced with the dynamo of a bicycle and many other interesting experiments which attracted not only physicists, but also students from other faculties and many hundreds of school children.
Many of the students of the Physics faculty remember that Physics day was one of most important reasons to enter that faculty. Watching what happens in Fizland, they understood that physics is not only formulas and dry laws but also an attractive possibility to understand the surrounding world. Being part of a funny and creative community also was one factor in their choice. Attractions in Fizland are arranged on a commercial basis therefore many students discovered that it is possible to use interesting phenomena not only for fun but also for some income. They got their first taste of business here and now we have many graduates of the Faculty of Physics who became owners of high-tech companies and are well-known businessmen.
One can say that the Day of Physics with its 50 year history has become the best advertisement of Physics in Lithuania. This day attracts many guests from different countries.
The history and the FiDi50 event can be followed at https://www.fidipedia.lt/ and http://www.fidi.lt/50/en/fidi-50-main/ .
