Tom HallEdinburgh Science Festival has launched its 31st programme today, presenting 270 family and adult events at 31 venues between 6-21 April.
‘Powered by EDF Energy’, Edinburgh Science Festival takes inspiration from the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing and focuses on ‘Frontiers’ throughout the 2019 programme.
Edinburgh University’s Pleasance becomes the new Festival Hub, hosting the popular Experimentarium outdoor exhibition Moments in Time, alongside a variety of science shows, hands-on events, debates, discussions and workshops.
Edinburgh Science Festival is also supported by Principal Funding Partners: The City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Government, Edina Trust and Baillie Gifford.
2019 programme highlights:
- The Science Festival programme sets out to explore various Frontiers: Planetary, Digital, Healthcare, Engineering, Environmental, Social and Food, inviting world-class scientists, academics and authors to discuss everything from overpopulation and space exploration to medical cannabis and Trump’s Twitter feed.
- The Edinburgh Medal is awarded to Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC), who was instrumental in the successful conclusion of the Paris talks.
- A Human Touch, a major free open-air exhibition exploring human influence on Earth opens on 20 March in front of the Scottish Parliament. Beautiful and thought-provoking, this amazing collection of images shine a light on the effects our hunger for resources have had on the planet and some of inventive steps being taken to minimise harm and protect our planet for future generations.
- Prof Dame Anne Glover and Prof Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell examine the profile of female scientists and share their personal experiences of being women in science, Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees explores the themes of his recent book, On the Future: Prospects for Humanity, Prof Richard Wiseman in conversation with comedian and broadcaster Helen Keen investigates the powerful life lessons behind humanity’s greatest achievement, landing on the Moon and Prof Jim Al-Khalili shares an insight into his first foray into fiction with his recent book, Sunfall.
- GastroFest is back to peek behind the science of food – everything from gin and tonic to seafood.
- The Festival sets out to break all taboos! Are we too clean? What is normal? What does a duck’s vagina look like in 3D?
- In the children’s programme, five floors of hands-on science at City Art Centre is back with the favourites such as Blood Bar and ER Surgery alongside five new workshops and interactive activities.
- Science in the Spotlight returns with another world premiere theatre production: Melody and Sam: Record Breakers, a tender and hilarious story of friendship and breaking world records, developed with support from Creative Scotland through the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund.