The much-anticipated return of Norwich Science Festival is finally here – with events kicking off from Saturday, February 11 in time for half term.
The Forum will host ‘The Explorium’, where there will be a different theme each day, from food and farming to chemistry, physics and astronomy.
You’ll be able to explore wonders of the natural world, visit the bug zoo, meet native rare breed sheep, look at the world of tech, take part in an artificial intelligence game of snooker, build your own microscope out of Lego and get hands-on with some exciting physics experiments.
You can experience all this, and so much more, for free – with activities suitable for all ages.
Venture into The Gallery in The Forum and be flung into the future with the sight of a vertical farm.
‘Straight up farming’ is a new installation to showcase vertical farming – a new technology that is already changing the way we grow crops and promises to revolutionise food production in the next decade (February 11-18, The Gallery, The Forum).
Teens can get involved in building and discovering the inner workings of a wind farm, using Vattenfall’s 3DW virtual reality (VR). Design your own wind farm off the Norfolk coast using the software, and also explore a real town in VR to see what an onshore wind farm looks like up close.
These sessions will be delivered by students from University Technical College Norfolk (UTCN) and East Coast College (February 13, various times, The Forum, booking essential).
Want to combine shopping and science? Keep the kids entertained at Chantry Place with the Extraordinary Extinct™ trail, created by Dodo and Dinosaur, and sponsored by Chantry Place.
Pick up a free trail map from Langley’s or The Forum to follow this self-led adventure around the centre – and one lucky person could win a fantastic prize too (February 4-18, Chantry Place).
Also at Chantry Place, you can experience the Museum of Plastic, where entertaining, interactive exhibits combine with arcades to look at how we can create solutions to our big plastic problem.
There are plenty of free talks for adults too, tackling topics that affect us all.
‘Can you recover from a dementia diagnosis?’ will see progressive researchers and those with lived experience carry out a discussion on better ways of living despite having a life-changing condition (February 14, 11am-12pm, The Forum Auditorium, booking essential).
‘E-cigarettes in the Emergency Department’ covers the facts and why A&E might be the ideal place to promote the use of e-cigarettes, followed by a ‘myth busting’ Q&A session (February 15, 3-4pm, The Forum Auditorium, booking essential).
‘Balloons, buckets and breathlessness’ will be an interactive talk from Norwich Research Park showing how care for cancer is evolving and improving (February 15, 1-2pm, The Forum Auditorium, booking essential).
Find out how retailers are working towards a greener future and how advances in science can make our shopping habits more sustainable at ‘Conscientious Fashion – Sustainability within Modern Retail’.
This talk reveals how H&M and Chantry Place are moving towards being more eco-friendly organisations, from encouraging people to recycle clothes to installing solar panels (February 17, 12-12.45pm, Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form, booking essential).
Discover the importance of communication at an interactive session with a speech and language therapist (SLT) at The Forum.
Participants will explore the role of an SLT and find out more about the work UEA does, which improves the lives of children and adults (February 14, 5-6pm, The Forum Auditorium, booking essential).
Finally, not for the faint-hearted or squeamish, join evolutionary biologist Prof Ben Garrod and zoologist Dr Jess French (Radio 4’s Wild Inside) to witness a live scientific dissection, revealing the inner workings of an animal.
This event will take place in a marquee outside The Forum on Saturday, February 11, from 11am-2pm, and will also be live streamed. The animal died of old age and has been donated for the purpose of education and research.
So, get ready for intriguing discoveries, inspiring talks, engaging exhibitions, cutting-edge research and lots of family fun.
With more than 180 events taking place over eight days, there’s plenty for everybody to enjoy at Norwich Science Festival 2023.
Find out more about the events and book tickets at norwichsciencefestival.co.uk
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