On the 9th of June, CMS took part in the annual ‘Colour Run’ in Cessy, France. This is a local event organised by the Cessy town hall for the people of Cessy and Pays du Gex, and features a 5km fun run with powdered paint being thrown at 1km intervals by eager spectators! The run passed by the CMS detector site, and started and ended in the Cessy communal hall that also hosted a “Pass’Sport” event, where different groups in the area could showcase their activities to get people involved.
From 10am to 4pm, CMS scientists hosted a stand and spoke to many people, from budding scientists (under 10) to slightly older enthusiasts (up to 75!) All were greatly interested in what CMS and CERN are doing, especially what is happening at the Cessy CMS site.
ABOVE: The CMS set up in the events hall. (Image D.Barney/CERN)
The stand featured a game where people tried to identify an event display showing a Higgs boson candidate, and a wordsearch about French physicists (incuding some from CMS!), along with a whole host of freebies and prizes including magic cubes, magnets, hats, tattoos (temporary!), brochures, mini models of CMS, and more.
Read about last year’s event here, which featured dedicated tours, wine, and cheese for the guests.
ABOVE: The CMS volunteers chatting to the public. (Image D.Barney/CERN)
One person stayed for an hour asking questions to all of our scientists; most passed by for about 10 minutes to learn what was happening. 110 people from the local area subscribed to come and see CMS in a future dedicated evening! .
Thank you to the Mairie and the inhabitants of Cessy for the warm welcome and all the curiosity shown!
And thank you to all the volunteers who came to look after the stall and speak to people: Dave Barney, Karla Peña, Attila Racz, Klaus Rabbertz, Wolfgang Adam, Tristan Loiseau, Anne-Marie Magnan, Mick Storr, Manfred Jeitler, Andre David, Maf Alidra, and Joel Lahaye.
It is truly invaluable to create open dialogue between members of the CMS collaboration and people living around the site.
Further resources: