The Science and Industry Museum has unveiled the full line-up of its biennial science festival, which returns this autumn as a live event for the first time in four years. The science extravaganza will take place from Friday 21 to Sunday 30 October, spanning locations across the city.
The 10-day festival will celebrate science and innovation through immersive performances, world premiere events, after-hours amusement and interactive activities. Underpinning the packed programme of events will be one crucial question - ‘what does the future hold for humanity?’.
The line-up includes a number of world-first experiences and after-hour's events including a chance to explore Castlefield Viaduct by nightfall and pioneering digital art and musical performances. The Turn It Up: The Power of Music, will offer an exploration of the science of music’s mysterious hold over people, allowing visitors to explore never-before-seen musical inventions and hear accounts from renowned musicians and uncover cutting-edge innovations.
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Ella Wild, Head of Festival and Events at the Science and Industry Museum, said: “We’re so excited that Manchester Science Festival is returning for a full-scale, live event in October. As a highlight of Manchester’s cultural calendar, it marks a welcome milestone in the city’s cultural recovery but most important of all, it’s a wonderful opportunity for visitors to get hands on with some of science’s most cutting-edge developments while exploring their own ideas and visions for the future.
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“We’re working with some incredible partners to give people of all ages, interests and abilities the opportunity to explore science that relates to them. From music to robotics and dance to wildlife, this year’s festival is a chance for visitors to play, create and discover as they immerse themselves in some really forward-thinking science and technology. We hope they leave the festival feeling entertained, inspired and hopeful about what the future holds for humanity.”
In a world-first, acclaimed choreographer, Corey Baker, will seek to create the first dance in space with an out-of-this-world immersive experience, Giant Leaps. Festival-goers will see themselves and their movements transported to outer space, where they can influence the journeys of stars and space dust as they float through the cosmos.
Elsewhere, futuristic fun is served up in the museum’s 19830 Warehouse, which will play host to travellers from the year 2122 as part of an interactive Live Action Role Play experience, led by climate change communications researchers. Sow the City , meanwhile, will explore what our future cities, homes and belongings will be made of, and City of Trees will uncover the role trees play in helping reduce the effect of climate change.
Visitors can also take part in one-off get Curious events, where people working in STEM will explore the innovations changing our world including artificial intelligence. Each event will take place in an eco-friendly, colourful construction, and involve hands-on activities that support young visitors to delve deeper into the world of science.
For adults, after-hour events will span live music, digital art and pioneering performances at the museum partners with From the Other - the team behind Sound From the Other City - Fat out Fest and Samarbeta to host Turn It Up - a futuristic display of audio and visual art, led by headline artists, Giant Swan.
There will also be after-hours access to the museum as it pulls back the covers to reveal the ’Future of Sex’. An evening of performance, workshops, art and conversation will give guests the opportunity to discover how technology and education are creating a future that fantasies are made of.
The festival will invites visitors to get crafty with The Vagina Museum by creating gynaecological bunting and anatomical artwork; explore the possibility that chatbots are the future of romantic relationships; enjoy a Virtual Reality date with the first VR dating app; and discover how technology could change the future of our intimate relationships during an interactive discussion with a panel of ‘sexperts’.
The Festival is also hosting a unique opportunity to explore Castlefield Viaduct once the sun goes down in the one-off event, Sky Park After Dark: Nocturnal nature tour . Visitors will discover more about its inhabitants, including insights into how they communicate revealed through cutting-edge technology, during a nocturnal nature tour led by experts from My Wild City.
Tickets are now available to book via The Science and Industry Museum website. Events will take place across the city, including the museum, Central Library, Manchester Arndale and the Castlefield Viaduct.
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