Members of the public will be given rare access to one of the UK’s most significant scientific research facilities this February, as the Festival of Tomorrow launches a new series of evening events at the Hawking Building in Wroughton.
The festival has partnered with the Science Museum Group’s Science and Innovation Park to create a programme of hybrid events designed for adults and older teenagers who want to explore science and technology in greater depth. The four-event series will take place inside the Hawking Building itself and is now open for booking, alongside the first wave of Festival of Tomorrow evening events.
Each session will feature talks and panel discussions with leading experts from across science, technology and research, including contributors from the Science Museum. Audiences will also be connected live to laboratories and research sites around the UK, offering behind-the-scenes access rarely available to the public. Some events will include after-hours virtual access to the Science Museum in London.
While the talks will be streamed live online, a limited number of people will be able to attend in person at the Hawking Building. Those attending on site will also be able to book exclusive, topic-linked tours of sections of the Science Museum Group’s collections immediately after each event.
Topics across the Hawking Building Series range from the future of lab-grown meat and the role of robots in everyday life, to NASA’s Artemis programme and its plans to return astronauts to the Moon. One event will even explore how the Eurovision Song Contest has influenced innovation in broadcast technology.
Dr Roderick Hebden, Director of the Festival of Tomorrow, said the collaboration was a major opportunity for the town.
“The Science and Innovation Park is a truly unique facility right on our doorstep, and we’re incredibly privileged to be able to open it up to people in Swindon, as well as audiences joining us online.”
Matt Moore, Director of the Science and Innovation Park, said the partnership would bring science closer to local communities.
“We’re excited to be working more closely with the Festival of Tomorrow this year, opening the Hawking Building to the public and contributing to the festival’s schools programme through our own shows and workshops.”
The newly announced events sit alongside a packed Festival of Tomorrow programme already available to book, including a headline comedy show from Robin Ince in Old Town, a Star Hop at Lydiard House, nature-focused events with the new Western Forest, and a public debate on surveillance and disease prevention led by the University of Oxford Pandemic Sciences Institute.
The Hawking Building is one of the largest research and storage facilities of its kind in Europe, housing more than 300,000 objects from the Science Museum Group’s collection. Items stored there range from historic vehicles and medical equipment to artefacts linked to space exploration.
Further details and ticket information are available at festivaloftomorrow.com.
