Five-day festival to boost interest in science

The five-day event takes place across Bradford with the target of attracting more than 6,000 young people from around Yorkshire and beyond.

The main objectives of the event are to promote awareness of science among young people and their parents as a subject to study, a potential career and a way of making their impact on the world.

It has been organised by a Bradford-based charity which promotes science education in schools across the country and follows the success of the city hosting the British Science Festival last year. Space Connections uses the theme of space exploration as way of getting school pupils interested in science, technology and maths.

Bradford Science Festival, which runs from Wednesday October 17 to Sunday October 21 will include a series of workshops and challenges for school pupils and members of the public to take part in across the city centre.

The event is designed to capture the imagination of visitors and show people how science affects all aspects of life.

Young people will be given the chance to learn about everything from bouncing custard to the science of the circus while there is also a programme designed for adults which will give a scientific slant on the world of sex, drugs and rock and roll.

It is the first time that the festival has been held but organiser and Space Connections director Helen Barraclough told the Yorkshire Post that there were plans for it to become an annual event, making the city a hub for young scientists of the future.

She said: “We want to promote science to young people as a career and as a subject for future study and we also want to promote community scientific literacy – so that young people and adults understand more about how science affects their day-to-day life and the opportunities it provides.”

The festival’s theme will be Science Fiction, Science Fact, Science Future,

To raise awareness of the event, a film will be shown on the big screen from this week in Bradford’s Centenary Square showing people from the city including council leader Dave Green emerging from a Tardis-style police box to explain how science affects their life.

The festival is being delivered in partnership with Bradford Council, the city’s university and college, Fabric – an arts forum in the city, The National Media Museum, and major chemical company BASF which is based in the city.

Activities taking place include a primary school challenge to develop a machine run by solar, wind or water power and a science writing challenge run through local libraries.

On the opening day of the event the BASF Kids Lab will give groups of young people aged between eight and 11-years-old the chance to take part in experiments linked to the national curriculum.

Workshops also include a visit from Animals in-Tuition which will give pupils the chance to meet a range of “reptiles, amphibians and creepy crawlies”. The programme has been tailored to appeal to young people and allow them to see science in a way which they might not be used to in the classroom.

Scientist Dr Steven Rossington will roll custard into a ball and drop it from a height of 30cm to see how high it bounces while scientist and magician Dr Matt Pritchard explores the science behind superheroes.

He will look at powers such as mind reading, telekinesis, levitation and superhuman strength and will ask his audience what is fact? What is fiction and what might become possible in future?

The STAR Centre from Leeds City College’s Keighley campus will deliver a workshop on the future of robotics, while pyrotechnician Matthew Tosh will explain the science of fireworks.

Bradford’s National Media Museum will show people how to write with light and also explore the science behind Victorian photography. The adult programme includes Fifty Shades of Science: The science of sex during which Sheffield University’s head of philosophy Jennifer Saul will explore how sexism in science has held back scientific discovery for decades, while pyschologist Paul Kilgallon will look at the “matching hypothesis” a theory which suggests why people are attracted to their partner.