The seventh annual WestFest event was held Saturday with the goal of igniting a passion for science in kids through interactive hands-on exhibits.

The initiative started as a way to bring families to West Campus to see its research programs and infrastructure, and it has since grown to have 40 booths dedicated to helping kids get interested in a variety of STEM fields.

“A lot of times, we start to lose folks’ interest in science fields around the middle school age,” said research program manager and WestFest co-founder Courtney Price. “Starting to show them the interesting and cool and fun things that they can do in science early helps to maintain that passion.”