- Newcastle ScienceFest
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Newcastle ScienceFest is a 10 day celebration of creativity and innovation at venues across NewcastleGateshead, with the principal aim of increasing the North East’s enthusiasm for science and encouraging young people to consider a career in this area.
The first Science Festival programme in the city ran from 2002 – 2007. In 2008 funding from One NorthEast was awarded for an additional three festivals (2009 – 2011). The festival is delivered in partnership with Centre for Life, Tyne and Wear Museums, Newcastle Science City, Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council and culture10 as part of NewcastleGateshead’s world-class programme of festivals and events.
In 2009, the festival was re-launched[1][2][3][4][5] with a new brand identity and website. There were three key strands of the programme catering for three different audiences; families, adults and schools. It included two big family weekend events (7/8 & 14/15 March) and a series of adult events (lectures/science fiction/performances) during the week, as well as activities specifically for schools[6]. The highlight of the week was the first Maker Faire event in the UK[7], which was held at the Centre for Life and Discovery Museum on the 14 and 15 March[8][9][10][11].
Although there was no overarching theme for 2009, some events integrated with the national agenda. For example, to celebrate Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday, the festival commissioned the Darwin Brewery in Sunderland to develop a commemorative beer called Natural Selection which was available throughout March[12].
In 2010, ScienceFest saw the return of Maker Faire – the world’s premier event for DIY technology and craft, ScienceFest After Dark – a series of late night, adult only events and high-impact events specially focussed on developing science literacy skills.
Already established and popular in the US and Japan, Maker Faire celebrates the Do-It- Yourself mindset, and showcases some extraordinary projects by professional and amateur makers. This includes robots and electronics, through to food, fashion, craft and transport. The event is targeted at creative, resourceful people of all ages who like to tinker and love to make things.
In 2010, Maker Faire took place simultaneously at Centre for Life, Times Square and Discovery Museum. The event doubled in size from 2009, attracting 175 makers and 7000 weekend visitors, including 30% from outside North East England (Belgium, Holland and the United States).
Headline makers included the world’s fastest Rubik’s cube solving robot, Power Tool Drag Racing and the UK’s most advanced musical tesla coil.
Headlining the After Life strand was Designer Bodies – an after-hours opening of the Centre for Life exploring the extremes of the human body through 10 interactive stations including live tattooing, life drawing and body modification with internationally renowned performance artist Stelarc.
Newcastle Science Festival 2010 was attended by 51,000 people, including families, adults and children, across 120 events at 23 locations over a 10 day period. This represents an increase from 2009 where 48,500 people attended the event over a similar 10 day period.
References
- ^ Newcastle Evening Chronicle on the festival launch
- ^ Hartlepool Mail on the festival launch
- ^ The Crack Magazine preview the festival
- ^ BBC report on pre-festival publicity
- ^ Sky News report on pre-festival publicity
- ^ Newcastle Evening Chronicle on a schools workshop
- ^ BBC report on Maker Faire
- ^ BBC interviews with Makers attending event
- ^ BBC wants to hear from Makers after Maker Faire
- ^ The H visit Newcastle Maker Faire
- ^ Discussion of Newcastle Maker Faire on slashdot
- ^ BBC report on Darwin beer
External links
Categories:- Science festivals
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