ScienceFest aims to bring the wonders of science to everyone, whether they're most at home in a lab, a library or a nightclub. John Hill talks to the people dedicated to putting on an inspiring show, even with a reduced budget.
WHEN they sat down to plan the 2012 Newcastle ScienceFest, its organisers knew they had a large serving of interest, a huge dollop of available talent, and a family-sized bag of wild and wonderful ideas.
What they didn’t have was a giant pot of money.
The city has hosted a science festival since 2003, and it received a further shot in the arm in 2009 when the event was relaunched as part of a three-year strategy funded by One North East. The aim has always been to show people that science isn’t merely a locked VIP club with smoke seeping out from under the door.
It’s been driven by a desire to wheel science on to the stage and let people touch it; to show how it stretches beyond the lab into our everyday lives, and to allow visitors to take a little bit of inspiration home with them.
In previous years, that’s been achieved with everything from Wii-controlled robots to MP3 experiments and fire-breathing mechanical dragons. One year, visitors saw a spectacular choreographed performance by Eepy Bird, who exploded 1,000 litres of Diet Coke and 5,000 Mentos Mints.
The challenge this year was to provide that same inspiration on a fraction of the budget. Just like many events and organisations around the region, it has to adapt to the demise of One North East and the loss of a particularly large chunk of funding.
“They say creativity emerges from very small budgets”, says Linda Conlon, chief executive of Newcastle’s Centre for Life. “I don’t necessarily know whether that’s always true, but this year the festival wasn’t so much driven by money as by hard work and passion.
“We got a group of people together who were energetic, passionate, and wanted to make it happen – people from places such as Newcastle Science City, Northumbria University, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums and the Science Learning Centre in Durham.
“Even with regional development agency funding coming to a half, we really wanted to keep the momentum going. We had a faithful following who wanted something to happen in March.”
Conlon says this year’s ScienceFest was put together on a budget of £35,000, including the money for marketing. To put that into context, in 2010, the festival received £50,000 in funding from Enjoy England’s Culture 10 project alone. One North East’s contribution was £220,000, giving organisers the cash to arrange bigger named acts that could attract the public and get pictures in the media.
However, the team were determined to keep science in the public eye with a festival. In September next year, Newcastle will host Europe’s most high-profile public science event when the British Science Festival heads north, bringing over 350 of the country’s best scientists, engineers and commentators with it.
A successful ScienceFest would help open people’s eyes to the joys of science, and make them all the more enthusiastic about the major event turning up on their doorsteps a year later.
So brains were racked, and the people who tackle scientific questions every day discussed how to communicate their passions in a fun and engaging way. Some regular events already on the North East calendar were moved to coincide with the festival. And, when the dust settled, the programme arguably had more events than the previous year.
“People like Northumbria University have put a lot of time and effort into coming up with activities which may exist within the institutions but aren’t done for the public”, says Conlon.
“There isn’t a theme, but there is a personality to the festival. It’s about satisfying curiosity. It’s very playful and slightly irreverent. It’s not didactic and focused on telling people things. It’s about getting people to think a little bit more about things and inspiring them.”
From March 8 to 15, events will take place in a range of venues across the region, from the Dove Marine Laboratory in Cullercoats to Newcastle University’s Moorbank Botanic Garden. You’ll be able to learn how to identify birds by their song at the Centre for Life, tour the underground tunnels in the Ouseburn Valley, hear more about whether invisibility cloaks could ever become a reality, and learn about the chemistry of curries and kebabs. Ian Russell will be performing his Exploding Custard show of DIY kitchen-table science at Northumbria University, using materials to be found at home.
