From Antarctica to the Universe: the Cambridge Festival 2022

Bookings for the Cambridge Festival 2022 are now open

The Cambridge Festival, which had its inaugural festival in 2021, is back with a bang this year with over 350 in-person and online events.

From political crises, to the outlook for feminism as well as advances in cardiovascular therapy and organ transplantation, and a look at the state of our natural world, the programme looks to tackle and offer solutions for some of our most pressing issues.

Prominent figures and experts in the world of current affairs, science, arts, and culture are set to appear at the Festival including author Jeannette Winterson, Astronomer Royal, Professor Lord Martin Rees; former head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4, Dorothy Byrne, now President of Murray Edwards College and everybody’s favourite mathematic, Bobby Seagull.

Divided into four key themes: society, health, environment and discovery, the programme includes debates, talks, exhibitions, lab tours, workshops, films, and performances.

"We are absolutely delighted to be back in person this year with a programme that covers the full spectrum of what it means to be human in the 21st century. We’re also excited to be able to present a Festival that combines both our new online event format as well as the chance to meet researchers in person again." 
David Cain, Festival Manager

We want to present new ideas, cutting-edge research and historical insight into the issues that affect all of us. There will also be a vast number of interactive events geared towards children, young people, and families.

Here is just a small snippet of some of the fantastic events at this year’s Festival

Environment

With the G7 in Cornwall and COP26 in Edinburgh, the environment took centre stage in 2021. The Cambridge Festival brings together a range of experts to discuss the critical state of our environment and what we can all do to help repair it. 

In “Can Aviation Go Green?” a panel of experts look at the challenges in selecting and producing sustainable fuels for future aviation with a particular focus on the UK aviation industry.

The Intellectual Forum at Jesus College will be holding a live online talk with Dr Nina Seega, Research Director for Sustainable Finance at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, to explore what sustainable finance is and what COP26 meant for the financial sector.

Cambridge University Botanic Gardens will be holding a poetry reading in the beautiful surroundings of the garden where a line up of green-loving poets will take us on a journey of scientific, sensory, and personal discovery in the plant realm.

Bees at the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens

Bees at the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens

Bees at the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens

CUBG will also be hosting a session to encourage people to visit the Gardens to discover which of their favourite products have wild plant ingredients and why it matters. In collaboration with TRAFFIC and the FairWild Foundation, CUBG will be highlighting plants that are harvested directly from the wild to make everyday consumer products such as teas, cosmetics and herbal remedies.

The Museum of Zoology once again have a fantastic host of events from a look at what the British butterflies in the museum’s collection can tell us about environmental change past and present, a chance to experience insect sounds and senses with the Insect Breeding Institute, meet some of the insects in the museum’s collections and a chance to join experts from the International Union for Conservation of Nature to explore stories of species from the Red List.

white airplane wing

Aeroplane wing against a cloudy sky. Image: Jerry Zhang on Unsplash

Aeroplane wing against a cloudy sky. Image: Jerry Zhang on Unsplash

Large copper butterflies in the Museum of Zoology

Large copper butterflies in the Museum of Zoology

Large copper butterflies in the Museum of Zoology

Last year’s Cambridge Festival managed to reach all continents around the world, except for Antarctica - so this year we’re bringing Antarctica to Cambridge. Deception Island, an exact replica of an Antarctic hut, offers an immersive expedition like nothing you have been on before. 

a customer sits in the hut

A customer in the hut. Image: The Story Machine

A customer in the hut. Image: The Story Machine

The immersive poetry film will take you to Deception Island, a tiny caldera in the Antarctic Ocean, battered by the fiercest seas in the world and shaken by volcanic activity. Alongside the film will be a programme of events, including live social media talks and feature stories exploring the Polar regions.

Carry on your Antarctic journey by heading over to the Scott Polar Museum. On Saturday 2nd April, they will be holding a pop-up family day where you can find out all about life on the ice and the trials and tribulations of living and working in the coldest place on Earth.

a scale model of deception hut

Health

It is safe to say that health, physical, mental, and social well-being has been at the top of everyone’s agenda for the past two years.
The Festival has numerous events covering a wide range of health issues, from the ethics of regenerative medicine to whether better science requires fewer limits, to the future therapies for cardiovascular disease to new technologies for organ transplantation.

A clinician puts a face guard on a patient before a scan.

A clinician puts a face guard on a patient before a scan. Image: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

A clinician puts a face guard on a patient before a scan. Image: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

white robot toy holding black tablet

White robot toy holding black tablet. Image: Owen Beard on Unsplash

White robot toy holding black tablet. Image: Owen Beard on Unsplash

In “Using AI to diagnose ovarian cancer - would you trust a machine to help find tumours?”, a presentation by NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, will give an overview of ovarian cancer, and how AI can be applied in its diagnosis and what the public sees as the major issues surrounding the use of AI in the delivery of medical care.

More on AI in medicine as Dr Duncan Astle from the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Professor Zoe Kourtzi from the Department of Psychology and Mr Stephen Price from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences join forces in this live panel discussion to explore the use of machine learning and AI in neuroscience research and what the terms actually mean.

Transforming Transplantation looks at why, despite the success of organ transplantation as one of modern medicine’s great stories, a global shortage of donor organs remains. Join transplant surgeon and research director Professor Mike Nicholson as he introduces talks from two young researchers working to solve this problem.

With the rise of zoonotic diseases, the increasing popularity of veganism in response to climate change and growing interest in animal rights issues, “Animals and humans: towards a closer relationship?” will discuss the past, present and future of our relationships with animals.

Our mental wellbeing has never been talked about more. “Promoting positive mental health in a time of mental health crisis” from the Department of Psychiatry is an in-person workshop aiming to promote improved understanding of the topic of mental health and to highlight how we can all work together to promote positive mental health and reduce poor mental health outcomes.

Brain Inflammation in Dementia and Depression”, a hybrid live event hosted by the Cambridge Centre for Frontotemporal Dementia and Related Disorders, will bring together experts from across the University to explore the role of neuroinflammation - inflammation in the brain - in diseases such as depression and dementia.

Join clinical leads from Cambridge University Hospitals and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust to see how the new Cambridge Children's Hospital will integrate physical and mental health services through an ambitious Arts Strategy that explores integrated care through creativity.

COVID has brought bereavement to the fore, raising questions about how a society confronts grief on such a huge scale. In this discussion, Professor Stephen Barclay, GP Dr Dan Knights and grief podcaster Amber Jeffrey will talk about the impact of bereavement on society at large and changing attitudes to how the medical profession should respond and the kind of support needed in the community.

person holding green apple

Person holding green apple Image: Jony Ariadi on Unsplash

Person holding green apple Image: Jony Ariadi on Unsplash

white candle in tilt shift lens

White candle in tilt shift lens. Image: Jessica Delp on Unsplash

White candle in tilt shift lens. Image: Jessica Delp on Unsplash

Society

What is society? It is about people coming together to share a place, belief, understanding or culture. In today’s world, it may often feel that our societies are splintered and uncertain. The Festival presents a range of events that help us to understand what is happening today and whether the multiple crises we are facing could spawn new ideas about how we organise society. 

The Cambridge Festival Book club is back this year running in partnership with Cambridge University Library. Our book is 12 Bytes: How artificial intelligence will change the way we live and love by award winning author Jeanette Winterson. 12 Bytes is a collection of essays looking at the implications of artificial intelligence on the way we live and the way we love. Jeanette will be joining University Librarian, Dr Jessica Gardener, to discuss her book and the broader themes of AI and its link to Cambridge. 

A new book, After the virus: Lessons from the past for a better future co-authored by Professor Simon Szreter and Hilary Cooper is the centre of a discussion with co-director of the Bennett Institute Professor Diane Coyle exploring what COVID has taught us about social inequality in the UK.

Slum area and buildings, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Slum area and buildings, Jakarta, Indonesia. Image: Afriadi Hikmal on Getty Images

Slum area and buildings, Jakarta, Indonesia. Image: Afriadi Hikmal on Getty Images

Our Festival sponsors RAND Europe will be hosting an in-person talk exploring what we understand by the notion of societal resilience or the ability of society to rebound from a crisis event. They’ll explore what could be done to improve and bolster resilience in the UK and if there are lessons we can learn from other countries.

the book over to 12 Bytes by Jeanette Winterson showing a women with her back to the camera looking into a mirror on a yellow backgroun

12 Bytes by Jeanette Winterson

12 Bytes by Jeanette Winterson

Book cover for Before the West by Ayse Zarakol

Book cover for Before the West by Ayse Zarakol

Light Trails on Westminster Bridge, Big Ben, London, England.

Light Trails on Westminster Bridge, Big Ben, London, England. Image: joe daniel price on Getty Images

Light Trails on Westminster Bridge, Big Ben, London, England. Image: joe daniel price on Getty Images

2050 - A New World is a policy-making board game where players develop strategies to move towards a future where climate change is mitigated. You’ll make tough decisions with limited resources, enact policies to reach your city's 2050 sustainability goals, and allocate local resources. What would you be willing to change for a sustainable, resilient life?

Before the West: Rise and fall of eastern world orders is a new book by Ayse Zarakol, Professor of International Relations at Cambridge which offers a grand narrative of (Eur)Asia and uses that to rethink the foundational concepts and debates of international relations, such as order and decline. He will be joined by Hans Van de Ven, Professor of Modern Chinese History to discuss the book in more detail. 

Dorothy Byrne, President of Murray Edwards College will be chairing a panel discussion, “Can political innovation come from crisis?”, with panellists Professor David Runciman and Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Professor in Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies at SOAS, University of London. The discussion will try to help us understand how the history of ideas can help us to understand what is happening today and will the multiple crises we are facing spawn new ideas about how we organise society.

Discovery

Last year we explored this year we are discovering! Exploring some of the new and emerging research taking place at Cambridge across different subject areas, these events offer the opportunity to explore and discover new things about the world around us.

Human journeys into space fill us with wonder. But the thrill of space travel for astronauts comes at enormous expense and is fraught with peril. As our robot explorers grow more competent, governments and corporations must ask, does our desire to send astronauts to the Moon and Mars justify the cost and danger?

Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees, will be hosting a special talk on his new book The End of Astronauts -  a provocative and inspiring look at the future of humanity and science. 

lord martin rees sits in a chair in front of a fall bookcase

Lord Martin Rees by Nick Saffell

Lord Martin Rees by Nick Saffell

Join us for a unique exhibition of artistic creations that showcase some of the world’s burning research questions in novel and creative ways as part of Cambridge Creative Encounters 2021. We challenged our researchers to work with professionals from the creative arts to re-think the way they communicate their research, such as plays, poetry, photography, animation and short films.

Take a closer look at the Darwin Correspondence Project as they discuss the crucial role Darwin’s global correspondence network played in his scientific work. Many think of Charles Darwin as a 'lone genius', but the 9000 Darwin letters held by Cambridge University Library reveal a more vibrant character. Complex, at times witty, warm, curious, domestic, and above all collaborative.

Image: Cambridge University Library

Image: Cambridge University Library

A treat from the Fitzwilliam Museum as they reveal the secret life of paper. Have you ever thought about where your books come from, and where they go?

This event explores the longer life of paper, in which books – and literature – play only a fleeting role. Enjoy a talk on the secret life of paper from Dr Georgina Wilson, followed by a chance to meet the Fitzwilliam Museum’s book and paper conservators, and an opportunity to see a special selection of material from the Museum’s manuscripts and printed book collections, from mediaeval to modern.

stack of worn paper from Adventures of a Quire of Paper

Adventures of a Quire of Paper. Image: The Fitzwilliam Museum

Adventures of a Quire of Paper. Image: The Fitzwilliam Museum

Part of the Department of Engineering's Community Open Day, Dr Kshitij Sabnis and Pascal Gehlert dispel misconceptions about wings with a practical introduction into how wings make it possible for aeroplanes to fly. Along the way, there will be a number of live demonstrations to illustrate the key concepts and to dispel some common myths about how wings work.

Families

Back this year due to popular demand is our family-fun weekend which will be taking place across the New Museums Site and the Downing Site in the city centre.

Packed full of family-friendly games and activities on the first weekend of the Festival (2nd/3rd April). Here are just a few of the treats we have planned.

Get hands on this year with research happening across Cambridge. From temporary tattoos and immune cell robots from CRUK to Cambridge Science Centre's unique exhibits and experience science, technology, engineering, and maths!

The Cambridge School for the Visual and Performing Arts (CSVPA) Spatial Design Lab will be premiering their Mycelium Pavilion at the Festival this year. The audience will be able to touch and interact with the pavilion, grown from fungal matter, while hearing about its design and materials directly from the creators.

Mycelium Pavilion draft design

Mycelium Pavilion draft design

In an interactive family show for ages 7 upwards, COVID For Kids, we follow the adventures of Corry the Coronavirus who travels around the world causing chaos and misery until she is brought under control by a team of Super Scientists.

Along the way we learn how and why viruses emerge, what happens in a pandemic, and how we can beat such threats in the future.

You’ll play Jason and the R-Go-Noughts, and make your own batty poems.

Two people playing The Multitude

The Multitude in action. Image: Collusion

The Multitude in action. Image: Collusion

Something very special will be is happening - The Multitude, a 20-minute interactive playable story for two humans that features interactive projections of their own bodies. Produced by Collusion, funded by Cambridge Junction and Arts Council England, brave heroes must do the bidding of the four elemental spirits of nature to gain their help.

However, not all the elementals are impressed with humankind’s recent behaviour and may need some persuasion to help. The quest is yours should you care to accept it: can you raise the Multitude and save us all?

Neuroscience expert and science communicator Ginny Smith helping us master memory in a fantastic show which uses quizzes and games to explore your memory and how to improve it. Using research from psychology and neuroscience, we provide tips and tricks to help you make the most of your memory.

Ginny Smith with an audience member at a previous event

Ginny Smith with an audience member at a previous event

Bobby Seagull on University Challenge

Bobby Seagull on University Challenge

Bobby Seagull on University Challenge

Simon Watt, from The Ugly Animal Preservation Society holding a 'Save the Slug' sign

Simon Watt, from The Ugly Animal Preservation Society holding a 'Save the Slug' sign

Simon Watt, from The Ugly Animal Preservation Society holding a 'Save the Slug' sign

Everyone is invited to Cambridge’s first Imaginarium to unleash their imaginations! Hosted and facilitated by Cambridge Carbon Footprint, a local charity that supports and inspires people to live sustainably and community artist Hilary Cox Condron, they want to know your ideas for a better future which will be shared with local decision makers and on social media so as to reach as wide an audience as possible. 

Mathematics legend Bobby Seagull will be hosting a talk based around his book, The Life Changing Magic of Numbers. Maths is everywhere in the world around us and this makes us all mathematicians so come and listen to the life changing magic of numbers. 

How about some ugly animals? The Ugly Animal Preservation Society will be on hand to celebrate and explore the incredible biology of the animal kingdom’s most monstrous. What adaptations make them amazing? How did such hideous creatures evolve in the first place? The show features videos, demonstrations and lots and lots of audience participation.

The main gallery of the Whipple Museum with an old telescope in the foreground

The main gallery of the Whipple Museum. Image: Whipple Museum

The main gallery of the Whipple Museum. Image: Whipple Museum

Both the Whipple Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum will be hosting family open days on Saturday 2nd April. From storytelling and art activities at the Fitz to the chance to explore some of the Whipple’s extraordinary collection of scientific instruments, apparatus, models and other material related to the history of science.

"We’re very much looking forward to welcoming everyone in person and online to share the work of the University of Cambridge and its collaborators during the 11 days of the Cambridge Festival."
David Cain, Festival Manager

The Cambridge Festival aims to make our events safe and welcoming spaces for all, any in-person events will follow University public health guidance.

You can now search and browse the complete Cambridge Festival 2022 programme by visiting our website and make sure to follow us on social media and sign-up to our mailing list to keep up to date with all the news and events as they happen.

The Cambridge Festival 2022 is kindly sponsored by