The Cambridge Festival

Four themes, ten days, 350 free online events, and more than 100,000 views across 175 countries.

car on track

This year, the latest research taking place at the University was brought to a global audience through the inaugural Cambridge Festival. We speak to some of the academics and organisers who made this event such a success.

“Knowledge belongs to everyone,” says Naomi Clements-Brod, Public Engagement and Festival Manager, “and it’s really important that we share the research taking place at the University.”

“Exactly, this knowledge can help inform decisions and impact lives,” agrees David Cain, Public Engagement and Festival Manager, “whether that’s information related to cancer treatments or carbon footprints.”

Credit: Tom Mclean

Credit: Tom Mclean

Echoing the cross-disciplinary research approach for which Cambridge is famous, the Festival centred around four key themes – society, environment, health and explore – chosen for their relevance to life today. The Festival investigated the hype versus reality of AI, asked what we mean by ‘family’ in the twenty-first century, explored how social media is impacting our lives, and debated the dilemma of genome editing.

Over 115 departments, Colleges, museums, gardens, art galleries and partner organisations took part, sharing their latest research through live and pre-recorded online debates, Q&A sessions, games and tours. Other events included a virtual book club, escape room challenge and improv comedy evening.

Credit: Tom Mclean

Credit: Tom Mclean

Accessible to everyone

“The online format meant the Festival was available to everyone, no matter what their situation or where they were in the world. We had people tuning in from Scotland to Senegal,” says Cain.

It’s clear from the tweets, posts and messages which flooded in throughout the duration of the Festival, that attendees really appreciated the accessibility and flexibility of the online format.

“One of our favourite tweets was from a trainee teacher based in Glasgow who was celebrating the start of the holidays by watching Sir David Attenborough in conversation with Liz Bonnin – from the comfort of a home-made fort complete with fairy lights!”

But accessibility isn’t just about geographical locations, as one mother of three young children points out, explaining how online events were so much easier for her to attend than in-person events as she didn’t need to worry about booking a babysitter.

The next generation      

Inspiring the next generation has always been a key focus of the University’s outreach programme. While this year COVID-19 restrictions meant that face-to-face events couldn’t take place, Festival organisers were determined to provide fun and interactive activities for children in the local community and beyond.

Scientists from the Babraham Institute reading stories

Scientists from the Babraham Institute reading stories. Credit: Babraham Institute   

Scientists from the Babraham Institute reading stories. Credit: Babraham Institute   

Highlights included Easter bingo at the Botanic Garden, stories read by scientists at the Babraham Institute and (with the help of Lego and chocolate) exploring everyday crystals found in the home.

A Zine packed full of hands-on activities for children was published ahead of the Festival. Printed or downloadable copies of the Zine were available for free. Additionally 1,000 copies were delivered to the local community via a partnership with the Community Food Hubs run by Cambridge Sustainable Food and the City Council.

Magazine

Festival Zine

Zine

“We spent a happy school holiday afternoon doing some of the activities,” says mum Tamsin Milewicz. “They were super interesting and engaging, giving us lots to talk about.”

Infographic about festival

An international audience

Figures show an estimated 19% of attendees were international and approximately 45% were under the age of 45. This diversity of nationalities, cultures and ages added an exciting dynamic to the Q&A sessions for both the attendees and presenters.

“More than 130 attendees joined us, not only from Fenland market towns, but also from Marrakech to Mumbai, Queensland to Zurich, and many points between,” says Tim Minshall the Dr John C Taylor Professor of Innovation, who spoke about how engineers are manufacturing a better world.

“We received over 70 questions – including great questions about 3D printing cheese, how to build houses on Mars, and why that ship blocking the Suez Canal was such a big deal.

“It felt very special to connect with passionate individuals from all over the world,” reflects Minshall, “especially at a time when many of us are physically separated from one another because of the pandemic.”

Credit: Tom Mclean

Credit: Tom Mclean

A meeting of minds

Connecting with the public and sharing research findings during a year when there have been far fewer opportunities for networking and engagement has been particularly valuable for early career researchers as French studies PhD student Annalisa Nicholson explains.

“It's a brilliant chance to talk to new people about your work” says Nicholson. “I feel like there's a reciprocal benefit for both of you.”

Nicholson’s talk focused on the mistresses of Charles II who became celebrities of their day and influenced a variety of fields within the arts and sciences.

Following the event, a live Q&A was held on Twitter, and Nicholson found, as many other academics will attest to, that the questions posed in the session sparked new ideas for avenues of research.

“Some of my favourite questions were about the little details like “how exactly do you become a royal mistress?” or “can you refuse to be a royal mistress?”” says Nicholson.

“It struck me that these questions were the details people were lingering on as they wanted to imagine what it would be like to be asked to be the mistress of a king.

“Their questions sent me away to think specifically about how these meetings were organised − if I ever get to finish my public history book it's these details I'll want to be teasing out.”

Credit: Tom Mclean

Credit: Tom Mclean

This broadening of perspectives and sharing of ideas for both academics and the public is really what the Cambridge Festival is all about − it’s a meeting of minds that transcends boundaries.

With special thanks to the Festival sponsors and partners AstraZeneca, RAND Europe, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and Cambridge Independent.

Missed the Cambridge Festival? Don’t worry – a wide selection of talks are available to watch online.