For one week, Ernst-August-Platz in Hanover was transformed into the city's scientific centre. The ‘Highlights of Physics’ brought an interactive exhibition, a varied programme for children and young people as well as exciting talks to the state capital. The festival showed how entertaining and understandable science can be.

Visitors were able to experience physics up close at 30 stands and exhibits. They learnt how glowing cucumbers and floating cakes work, how climate change can be measured from space and which properties the world's roundest sphere has. They learnt why rollercoasters with artificial intelligence stay safely on their tracks and were able to immerse themselves in virtual worlds with VR goggles. There was plenty to discover, especially for children and young people: In the junior lab, they experimented with building blocks and vinegar rockets, while workshops explained physical principles such as electron microscopy and quantum cryptography.

In 40 talks, physical topics were explained and discussed in a vivid way. Harald Lesch kicked things off with a musical journey to the ‘Sun, Moon and Stars’ together with the band ‘Quadro Nuevo’ in the packed Theatre am Aegi. The final event of the science festival also took place at the Theater am Aegi: Metin Tolan analysed the physics behind the spectacular stunts and futuristic technology of the famous secret agent at the lecture concert ‘James Bond im Visier der Musik’, which was also fully booked and accompanied by the Ärzteorchester Hannover.

The ‘Highlights of Physics’ were launched in 2001 by the German Physical Society (DPG) together with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It tours from city to city with changing themes. In 2024, the local scientific coordination and support was provided by the two Clusters of Excellence QuantumFrontiers and PhoenixD at Leibniz Universität Hannover. The Science Festival 2024 is organised by the DPG with funding from the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation in Hanau. The ‘Highlights of Physics’ are also supported by numerous other institutions such as ams OSRAM, the IdeenExpo Foundation, the City of Hanover, Laseroptik GmbH, NiedersachsenMetall and the NiedersachsenMetall Foundation, the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony and the VHV Foundation, with ‘Mein EinkaufsBahnhof’ as a cooperation partner. The event is also sponsored by Hitachi High-Tech Europe GmbH, TÜV NORD AG and VGH Versicherungen.