CERN Open Days – how was it for you ?

Over 70,000 visitors and volunteers swarmed over the Meyrin and Prévessin sites as well as the various LHC points during the last weekend in September. The 2013 Open Days were organised in a spirit of exchange and sharing around the motto “Our Universe is yours”. It took a great collective effort on the part of the Open Days project team members and many departments, including PH, to ensure the success of this event, from the early preparatory work right up to the final closing of the doors.

• Months of preparation

Rolf Landua’s PH/EDU Group was responsible for collecting the logistical needs of the 35 above-ground visit points. They, with the support of CERN Graphic Design service, put together some 250 posters giving an overview of the activities presented and catered to the equipment needs of the 9 souvenir shops.

In parallel, Sascha Schmeling, deputy coordinator of the 2013 Open Days, was in charge of coordinating activities at the LHC points. Among the many important contributions was the introduction of a new system for the handling of underground visits.

The pace picked up considerably during the final week of well-orchestrated preparations, with, for example, the installation of 73 tents in less than a week, under the watchful eye of the HSE Unit.

Rolf Heuer during his visit to the operation center of the OpenDays. 

• The Open Days proper

Among the many activities on offer to the general public, visitors had a unique opportunity to discover various PH centres of expertise, such as Detector Technologies, Crystal Laboratory, COMPASS or the Antiproton Decelerator (AD), not to mention the flagship LHC experiments ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb. Our permanent exhibitions, Microcosm and Universe of Particles at the Globe were popular destinations, and in particular the new exhibition area dedicated to the Synchrocyclotron. The whole event was given extra added value in the form of a packed lecture programme organised by Michael Doser, the many renowned speakers regaling the knowledge-hungry audiences.

CERN Director General, Rolf Heuer, officially opens CERN's doors.

We wish to say a big thank-you to you all, from the PH organising teams who have been busy for many months to the volunteers and lecturers who turned out on the weekend. All the messages of congratulations we have been receiving in recent days are inspired by your dedication and enthusiasm.

Bosons&More – what a party !

More than 15,000 people massed under the gigantic, 6,000 sq.m. tent set up on the Prévessin site and milled around the 40 mobile snack-bars drafted in from all over France! The highly original line-up of 250 artists from the CERN Choir, the Zürich Sing-Akademie, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Alan Parsons Live Project performed their hearts out on a superb stage and enjoyed the party as much as you.

Bosons and More: Celelebrating the success of the Open Days, and the exceptional achievements of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

What an incredible way to bring the curtain down on the 2013 Open Days.

Many thanks !

The Open Days organising team.