Running from Fri 18 – Sun 27 Oct, Manchester Science Festival returns to the Science and Industry Museum with ten thrilling days of unrivalled family-friendly entertainment.
Explore the festival’s family highlights below.
Taking place throughout the festival, the spellbinding new installation State of Mind delves into the complex and far-reaching impact of smartphones, apps and other media technologies on our lives and minds. Using breathtaking light and sound innovations, pioneering artists Squidsoup have created an immersive, playful audiovisual experience in which visitors can sit, stand or walk around in a feast of sensory stimuli.
For younger visitors, the festival-inspired BBC CBeebies Bedtime Stories offer a delightful diversion from the high-energy entertainment of the festival with a series of interstellar tales, read by CBeebies House presenters and a constellation of special guests. Numbers are limited, so book tickets here.
Colour and Emotion: Embracing Your Colours, the Young People’s Project from Pinc College unveil a specially curated interactive exhibit packed with activities, creative challenges and new artworks to explore how colours affect our memory, mood and behaviour.
On Sat 19 Oct, Brain Waves invites families to uncover the fascinating relationship between our brains and bodies, as part of a free drop-in afternoon session where you can get up close with cutting-edge research, the secrets of science and cinema and test whether video gaming or physical exercise is better for mental function.
There’s also plenty of fun to discover elsewhere around the city. In the Arndale, the heart-stopping giant Arachnobot puppet will bring scientific wonder to Manchester’s shoppers with a towering eight-legged cable skeleton, showcasing the extreme capabilities of large-scale kinetic creations across Sat 19 and Sun 20 Oct.
There will also be an array of special spider science activities to get involved with throughout the weekend.
Maternal Instinct takes a look inside the mind of a mum in this brand-new project from Malandra Jacks and Mindful Mums. Interactive activities, authentic soundscapes and surprising science shape the exhibition which is inspired by personal stories from mums, families and professionals, as well as scientific research revealing how motherhood affects our brains, bodies and mental health.
To explore the full Manchester Science Festival programme or book tickets for any of the festival’s events click below.
- Words:
- Wolf McFarlane
- Published on:
- Tue 8 Oct 2024
The festival’s free Activity Zones bring fun and inspiring experiences for all ages to the museum’s historic 1830 Warehouse. There’ll be chances to get hands-on with cutting edge technology through a series of pop-up activities and drop-in workshops.
Take part in a virtual reality space expedition, dive into the world of deep-sea creatures, discover the amazing health benefits of drumming, find out how to survive a volcanic eruption, and much more.