Newcastle ScienceFest is a 10-day event 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.

Early history

The first

Science Festival A science festival is a festival that showcases science and technology with the same freshness and flair that would be expected from an arts or music festival and primarily targets the general public. These public engagement events can be varied, ...

programme in the city ran from 2002 – 2007. In 2008, funding from

One NorthEast One North East was the regional development agency for the North East England region. History It was established in April 1999. The North East received government aid for regeneration. In June 2010, it was announced that One North East was t ...

was awarded for an additional three festivals (2009–2011). The festival is delivered in partnership with

Centre for Life The Centre for Life is a science village in Newcastle upon Tyne where scientists, clinicians, educationalists and business people work to promote the advancement of the life sciences. The centre is a registered charity, governed by a board of ...

, Tyne and Wear Museums, Newcastle Science City,

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

, Newcastle City Council and culture10 as part of NewcastleGateshead’s world-class programme of festivals and events.

Relaunch

In 2009, the festival was re-launched 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 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. The highlight of the week was the first

Maker Faire Maker Faire is a convention of do it yourself aka-DIY enthusiasts started by ''Make'' magazine in 2006. Participants come from a wide variety of interests, such as robotics, 3D printing, computers, arts and crafts, and hacker culture. History ...

event in the UK, which was held at the

and Discovery Museum on the 14 and 15 March. Although there was no overarching theme for 2009, some events integrated with the national agenda. For example, to celebrate

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

's 200th birthday, the festival commissioned the

Darwin Brewery Darwin Brewery is a Sunderland-based brewery which opened in 1994 and expanded in 2002. Originally a brewing school of the University of Sunderland with an 18-gallon plant, the demand for the beers that were brewed there spurred an expansion an ...

in Sunderland to develop a commemorative beer called

Natural Selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...

which was available throughout March. In 2010, ScienceFest saw the return of Maker Faire – an event for DIY technology and craft, ScienceFest After Dark – a series of late night, adult only events and events specially focussed on developing science literacy skills. Headline makers included the world’s fastest

Rubik’s cube The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle originally invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Pentangle Puzzles in ...

solving robot, Power Tool Drag Racing and the UK’s most advanced

musical tesla coil The singing Tesla coil, sometimes called a zeusaphone, thoramin or musical lightning, is a form of plasma speaker. It is a variety of a solid state Tesla coil that has been modified to produce musical tones by modulating its spark output. The resu ...

. 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

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External links

Newcastle ScienceFest
Science festivals Science and technology in Tyne and Wear Festivals in Tyne and Wear Science events in the United Kingdom