Cheltenham Science Festival 2007

6 to 10 June – This month’s Cheltenham Science Festival 2007 has plenty on offer to keep the whole family entertained.

Whether you’re a budding brainiac or already have a PhD certificate framed on the wall of your lab, this year’s five-day Cheltenham Science Festival is set to explode into action Wednesday 6 June, with hands-on experiments and some of the world’s most distinguished scientists taking to the stage.

Drop by the family-friendly ExperiTent and expect to be entertained by special guest SpongeBob SquarePants and his Bubble Trouble activity – learning how to make everything from big bubbles to long-lasting bubbles and even bubbles in the shape of SpongeBob’s pants. The award-winning team behind Aardman Animations’ Creature Comforts will also be in attendance, explaining how people’s voices inspired the characters and showing clips from the hit series, as well as taking questions from little and big fans of the show alike.

What’s more John Kilcoyne from the Sky One’s series Brainiac will be performing live chemistry experiments complete so expect an explosive blend of smoke and fire, whilst warning the audience not to try this at home. There’s also a free interactive Discover Zone for kids of all ages to get involved in – with the opening evening being specifically reserved for adult-sized budding scientists only.

But, if you’re looking for some altogether more grown-up events at this year’s Cheltenham Science Festival, the line-up is impressive.

Chair of the UK’s Sustainable Development Commission, Jonathon Porritt, is not only the guest director of this year’s festival, but in a unique event he’ll be quizzing leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, about whether ‘blue is the new green’? Climate change will also be under the spotlight as environmentalist Fred Pearce will be questioning whether we are the last generation to have climate stability, in addition to debates involving Morgan Power of WWF, John Redman from the Severn Tidal Power Group and a host of other experts.

And if that wasn’t enough, other influential icons from the science world will be sharing their thoughts and taking questions from the audience, including Alice Roberts who will be setting out to explain how not to die young, Robert Winston will be looking at the great lengths people will go to in order to conceive, Adam Hart-Davis has a guide to the cosmos, Jimmy Doherty explores the relationship between science and farming and Blur’s own Cotswold cheese farmer Alex James will discuss the link between art and science.

There will also be debates on what makes the perfect human, what our world would be like if the need for sleep was eliminated, what the consequences of drugs in the classroom are and what makes us happy?

Having sold over 50,000 tickets since its inception in 2002, the question on everyone’s lips must surely be not whether to go to this year’s Cheltenham Science Festival, but which of the many activities and events you’ll try out first?

Event: Cheltenham Science Festival 2007
Venue: Cheltenham Town Hall
Date: Wednesday 6 to Sunday 10 June 2007
Times: 10am to 10pm daily, with times of specific events varying
Tickets: Prices vary for specific events during the festival. Call the Cheltenham Science Festival box office on (01242) 227979 for details.

SoGlos.com
29 May 2007