THE Kent Festival of Science held at Mid Kent College in Chatham attracted a record 1,100 visitors. The two-day event, sponsored by Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, played host to nearly 30 displays.

Oscar, a talking robot, was a big crowd-puller and mystified children and adults alike. The robot was uncannily human in the way it chatted to visitors but nobody could quite see how it worked. As David Miller, 10, said: "I don't know how it's done but it's cool."

Easier to understand were the exhibits in Bugs Life which included a huge, fat millipede and a tarantula, which did nothing to scare young Damien Wood. Damien, a pupil at Balfour Junior School, let the tarantula walk over his hand under the watchful eye of Gordon Farr, from Air BP's Field Study Centre in Grain. He said: "I'm not scared at all. I don't mind spiders."

As well as the lectures there was a performance called Kids in Space, which introduced the planets with the help of huge models and plenty of other attractions.

The next Kent Science Festival is in February half-term next year at Canterbury College. Tickets can be booked in advance on 01304 824434. The festival returns to Mid Kent College next October. More details at www.sciencefestival.org.uk