Festival of Tomorrow Booking Open at www.festivaloftomorrow.com – Prepare to explore Our Future Earth as the Festival of Tomorrow announces unmissable 2025 programme.
Get ready to experience the Earth from a new perspective! Swindon’s popular Festival of Tomorrow returns with more venues, events and activities than ever before from the 12 to 23 February.
The festival, which takes place each February, will bring together artists, performers, researchers, universities, charities and organisations from across the UK. Between them they’ll explore the theme Our Future Earth. And they’ll do it through a programme of spectacular performances, thought-provoking discussions, immersive art, hands-on workshops and FREE drop-in activities for all ages.
Luke Jerram and Gaia
Bristol-based artist’s Luke Jerram’s giant touring Earth artwork, Gaia, will be presented at Steam Museum during the half-term week. It’s at the heart of a curated programme of:
- Events
- FREE family activities
- Workshops
- Performances and exhibits inviting festivalgoers to re-imagine the Earth of the future
Measuring six metres in diameter, Gaia features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface. The artwork provides a unique opportunity to see our planet on this scale, floating in three-dimensions.
Shoppers at the Designer Outlet will journey into the heart of our blue planet. They’ll do it with a fin-tastic sea creature superpowers family trail and immersive activities from Incredible Oceans. All including the opportunity to get up close and personal with fascinating items like an orca skull, shark jaws and dolphin leg bones.
Meanwhile, Swindon-based Neon Dance will present a fascinating sound installation activated by the moving body. That’s including wearable sound sculptures which bring together music, dance, art and technology. Plus look out for a team of young guerrilla street theatre scientists who will be enlisting your help in their experiments.
Festival favourites
Festival favourites Air Giants will return to Swindon with HotHouse. Look forward to an interactive garden of 2.5 metre tall other-worldly plant sculptures, brought to life with movement, light, air and Air Giant’s pioneering robotic technology. The installation will form the focal point of nature-inspired creative activities at the historic Carriageworks. Including the Festival of Tomorrow’s first ever Open Art Exhibition featuring submissions from talented local artists of all ages and experience. Visitors will also be able to register to take part in a series of free workshops with Artist-in-Residence, Jo Beal and other creatives.
The programme also includes evening entertainment for adults and teens. There’ll be a fun alternative to your standard Valentines’ date night in the form of FoxDog Studio’s RoboBingo. That’s an interactive, smartphone powered comedy act like no other. Storyteller Carl Gough blends myth, personal narrative and vivid true-life stories in his unique one-man storytelling show, Nexus – organised by local voluntary organisation, Forging Fantastical. Also featured will be a special Sofa Screening of the compelling documentary, Cyborg. It explores self-design and humanity’s technological future-to-be. All followed by Q&A and discussion with director Carey Born and a panel of expert speakers.
Discovery, innovation and creativity
The excitement culminates in two action-packed days of discovery, innovation and creativity for all ages at the festival finale. It’s hosted once again by the Deanery CE Academy on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd February. Visitors can look forward to exploring four FREE interactive Discovery Zones packed with:
- Amazing demos
- Intriguing exhibits
- Hands-on activities and …
… challenges and free workshops from organisations including:
- The James Dyson Foundation
- Catalent
- The University of Bath
- Swindon Paint Festival
- The European Space Agency
- Kings College London
- the Woodland Trust and United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Festivalgoers of all ages will be able to journey to the stars with a free planetarium show. They can also:
- Imagine the technologies of the future through a space-inspired art workshop
- Delve into how the body works
- Meet the organisations working to protect our planet
- Or meet T-1-FNY. That’s the only domesticated battlefield robot, in a special display from Swindon-based creative manufacturing company Podpadstudios exploring how AI and machine learning are changing the world.
And if that’s not enough excitement, the line-up of inspiring talks and spectacular family shows are sure to get you fired up!
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Chief Executive, Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, said: ‘The Festival of Tomorrow is an important part of Swindon’s cultural calendar. I have so enjoyed the festival over the last four years. There’s always a great range of exhibits and activities, taking a hands-on approach to telling the stories of research and innovation. I’m delighted that UKRI is supporting the festival. It brings together researchers and innovators and a wide range of people to learn from each other. Further it brings to life the programmes and projects that we fund across the UK.’
Book early! …
… the immortal words of Fred Pontin on his TV ad from a million years ago are worth heeding. Indeed organisers are urging festivalgoers to book early at www.festivaloftomorrow.com to secure their spots on ticketed events and workshops, after many shows soon booked up last year.
Tickets for under 18s are free for almost all events. An adult ticketholder must accompany under-16s.
Some of this year’s must-see highlights include:
Top ticket picks for families
Marine Monsters
An exciting show from marine biologist and presenter, Dr Elizabeth Mills. Learn how your favourite UK sea creatures move, feed and protect themselves. Then decide as an audience which of those are your favourite ways to create a Marine Monster to life at the end of the show. Expect props, costumes, fun facts, experiments, audience participation and lots of laughter!
Fuel the Future
Discover the science behind generating, transferring, and storing electricity. And the technology used to make society more sustainable through a medley of mind-blowing demonstrations from the Royal Institution.
Bass in Your Face
Noisy Toys promise to:
- Fill the theatre with with booming bass vibrations
- Send lentils flying
- Make crazy sounds from some unexpected objects
- Expose some fake magic and wake up some dancing Oobleck monsters with their interactive show packed with demonstrations.
Bakineering – The Voyage
Join aerospace engineer, creator and judge of Netflix’s Baking Impossible, Andrew Smyth, on an edible exploration of the engineering that helps us travel around the planet in safety. From the secrets of edible boats to a survivable crash test, expect to have your curiosity whisked up!
The Science of Jurassic World
Join author and science presenter, Jon Chase, for an entertaining exploration of the science behind the much-loved movie franchise that helped to change the way we see dinosaurs. Features roarsome raps and bundles of dinosaur facts; fun for all the family!
I’m a Scientist – Get Me Out of Here
Time for the audience to take charge. Five working scientists subject themselves to interrogation by the audience, with trials of Science Fact vs Fiction. Hosted by literal and professional nanochemist, Dr Suze Kundu, in this show the scientists will compete to get your votes by giving truthful answers to your questions and trash-talking the others. Suitable for ages 8 – 80.
No bugs get harmed in the production of this event.
For adults and teens
What if you could see music?
Award-winning composer, pianist, and a developer of the app Shazam, Charlie Hooper-Williams invites you to find out, in a unique performance experience where sound and visuals come together in real time. Playing alongside Otto—a custom-built live projections system he coded—his music takes on another dimension, with visuals that respond to every note and gesture. This is a performance that’s both stunning and human. It’s intricate, virtuosic piano playing paired with imagery that amplifies its emotional core.
Building a green future
Festival Director, Dr Roderick Hebden quizzes Prof Dame Ottoline Leyser, CEO of UK Research and Innovation on the UK’s plans to build a green future. That’s one of the key themes of UKRI Strategy 2022-2027. What does it mean in practice? How will we get there and what difference can the UK make to tackle such a huge global challenge?
Satellites and Climate Action: Monitoring Greenhouse Gases from Space
Join us for a panel discussion with leading climate scientists and satellite engineers to explore how state-of-the art sensors and space-based information is reshaping and accelerating the fight against climate change and the urgent shift towards a sustainable, low-carbon future.
Mysteries of the Antarctic seas
A live ship-to-shore conversation with researchers on the ice breaker Polarstern scouring the depths off Antarctica for amazing creatures. Thus giving the Festival of Tomorrow an exclusive live insight into science at the world’s most remote and vulnerable environment. Expect a guided tour of the ship, too!
Inside the Hawking Building: Behind-the-scenes with the Science Museum Group
Television presenter Dallas Campbell joins the festival via live link from behind the scenes in the brand-new Hawking Building at the Science Museum Group’s Science and Innovation Park in Swindon.
Home to over 300,000 items – from a towering tramcar to an x-ray telescope – the Hawking Building is transforming public access to our shared scientific heritage. Joining Dallas will be Jessica Bradford, the Science Museum’s Head of Collections and Principal Curator. She’ll take you on a tour through some of the most remarkable stories under this one gigantic roof.
The Science Museum’s Science director and author, Roger Highfield will be live in the room to introduce the session and answer questions.
For tickets and the full programme visit – www.festivaloftomorrow.com
Bristol-based artist’s Luke Jerram’s giant touring Earth artwork, Gaia, will be presented at Steam Museum during the half-term week. It’s at the heart of a curated programme of:
