Imperial throws open its doors in May for a weekend-long celebration of science and arts.

The Festival returns for a fourth time this year on 9 and 10 May with exhibitions, demonstrations and talks on Imperial’s cutting edge research, including zones dedicated to robots, the brain, superbugs and light.

This year, in addition to music and dance performances there will also be an opportunity to hear from Imperial researchers who have recently published popular science books.

The College’s South Kensington Campus will open its doors to thousands of visitors young and old for this free annual event. The programme is available to download online [pdf] and there is no need to book - just turn up.

“The Festival will be bigger and better than ever with hundreds of scientists waiting to meet you, share the excitement of their discoveries, and find out what you think about their work,” said Natasha Martineau, Festival Director.

“With topics as diverse as lasers, satellites and snot you can’t fail to have fun and learn something new.”
 

In the Explore Zone, younger visitors can experiment with jelly worms and Lego engineering, and extract DNA from strawberries. In the Robot Zone, Festival-goers can fly a drone, play Jenga through the eyes of a machine and meet a mechanical dance partner. In a series of talks, researchers will discuss their work on earthquakes, genetics, pandemics and psychedelic drugs.

They will be joined by a host of performers including a cappella groups, a string ensemble, award-winning Bhangra dancers and Imperial’s ever-popular belly dancers. Even the littlest visitors will be amazed by demonstrations from the Balloonatics, bubbleologists and George the mechanical dragon.

Food will be on sale from the London Farmers’ Market and drinks available from Imperial’s pop-up pub the Haemo Globe Inn.

As a warm up to the Festival a special science breakfast will be held in local café Le Pain Quotidien on Friday 8 May. Over coffee and pastries, researchers will discuss their work on cereal crops around the world and how we can protect them from pests.

Visit the Imperial Festival website for more information.