Romani storytelling, amazing animals and science fun for all

The Cambridge Festival family weekend is back on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 March. Taking place across the New Museums Site in the centre of Cambridge, the weekend is full of hands-on, interactive activities, talks, workshops and trails for the whole family to enjoy. 

Join children’s author Cindy Forde and Dr Irving Huerta and take a space-time machine to re-imagine our future together in Bright New World (23 March). In this workshop we travel across time and space. From there, we look back at today and ask the following questions: What needs to be done now, immediately to get to this future? What if we changed the things causing the problems into solutions?  

The East Anglian Air Ambulance (23/24 March) will be joining us for the first time to give you the chance to experience what it's like being a crew member tasked to a life-threatening emergency. Fly in their interactive helicopter and discover how you can make a difference by saving lives. 

Cambridge Carbon Footprint, Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination and artist Hilary Cox Condron will be taking over the front lawn of King’s College for an Imaginarium Takeover (23/24 March). Come and be inspired as we seed ideas and root practical action alongside local experts. Watch everyday objects be regenerated in the Repair Cafe (booking required) and cultivate connections with artists, campaigners and innovators as we together reimagine and build a future that’s teeming with life and guided by nature. 

Join the enchanting Romani storyteller, renowned author and toymaker Richard O’Neill in The nomadic storyteller from the North (24 March). Prepare to be captivated as he weaves his spellbinding tales, offering a delightful array of original and authentic stories. This session is an enriching blend of history and pure fun, promising something for everyone. 

Over the weekend, The William Templeton Foundation for Young People’s Mental Health (YPMH) (23/24 March) will empower you with the latest knowledge to make the best choices for your mental health. They will be giving information to support your well-being with hands on activities, quizzes, competitions and free information packs.  

If you’re curious about the world around you and have questions about how science and religious faith can ever fit together, then join the Youth and Schools team from the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion (23/24 March), for an interactive, hands-on science session, digging deeper into this fascinating topic. 

Jonathan Shanahan, a Research Associate in the Department of Medicine, will be taking audiences on a journey of the history of tuberculosis in Tuberculosis: A Fishy Tale about a Deadly Disease (24 March). He’ll be discussing current research and how their work of the zebrafish is impacting disease treatment and what they’re learning about why tuberculosis has been such a successful adversary. 

Let storyteller Marion Leeper and illustrator Tonka Uzu take you on a timeless journey to a remote atoll in the Pacific Ocean to meet Sky Mother and her handsome sons in The canoe race: the art and science of creation myths (23 March). Watch the pictures come alive on a big screen as Tonka draws in response to the story. And then share with us your ideas, questions and reflections inspired by this traditional story, its message and its values, guided by the expert knowledge of environmental scientists Manar Alsaif and Elil Hoole. 

There will also be family days taking place on Saturday 16 March at the University of Cambridge West Cambridge site and our Big Biomedical Campus Day at the Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology. New for 2024, if you're planning on travelling between both the Biomedical Campus and the West Cambridge site, we are offering free bus tickets on the U1 and U2 service operated by Whippet. Just pick up a ticket from the welcome desk at either site. 

Schools and Families co-ordinator, Hazel Taylor said: “There is such a fantastic range of events taking place across the weekend. From pathology to psychology, from amazing animals to dancing like animals, there is something for all the family at the Cambridge Festival.”