Manchester Science Festival is returning in 2021 with a jam-packed programme exploring our changing climate and ideas for a better world.
The annual festival – which is produced by the Science and Industry Museum, is a highlight of the city’s cultural calendar and is one of the most popular science festivals in the UK – is now planned to take place from Friday 12th – Sunday 21st February 2021.
The first details of the 2021 event have been now been unveiled, revealing a programme that will explore the role of science, technology and communities in finding solutions to our changing climate, which is branded “one of the world’s most urgent challenges.”
As the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Manchester was the catalyst for scientific innovation and unprecedented change all over the world and now, with Greater Manchester’s vision of becoming carbon neutral by 2038, the city is uniquely placed to influence future progress across the globe once again.
Visitors will witness some of science’s most cutting-edge developments in the fight against climate change. They will be treated to an unmissable line-up, including premieres and immersive arts, fashion, food, theatre and sustainable living experiences, as well as the chance to talk to leading scientists and climate campaigners during a series of special events and debates.
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All activities will inform, engage and ignite curiosity about our changing climate.
📢Manchester Science Festival is back from 12 – 21 February 2021.
This year, it will explore our changing climate and ideas for a better world through a packed programme of arts and theatre, family activities, talks, debates and more.
Most will take place across the Science and Industry Museum’s city-centre site – where visitors have been safely returning since August – and the museum is collaborating with a wealth of contributors to deliver the exciting programme.
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The first key partner to be unveiled is The Royal Photographic Society (RPS), whose mission of “promoting the art and science of photography” has formed the basis of its work since 1853.
In support of the festival, The RPS has, for the first time, introduced a ‘climate change’ subcategory to its prestigious Science Photographer of the Year competition. The inclusive competition encourages photographers of all ages and abilities from across the world to capture images that show science in action, depict its impact on our everyday lives and illustrate how photography helps to record scientific events.
The additional category of climate change will also welcome submissions that tell the global story of climate change, showcase how science, technology and engineering are addressing this urgent issue and reveal its effects on our natural world.
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The shortlisted photographs will be used to create an exhibition for Manchester Science Festival and bring together science, climate and art in a stunning showcase of images. After its first showing at the museum – which will continue beyond the festival’s closing date – it will tour the UK and internationally.
The competition is now open for entries until 4th December 2020.
Anyone aged 17 and under can enter the Young Science Photographer of the Year category, and those aged 18 and over into Science Photographer of the Year.
🖼️Shortlisted images will be displayed in an exhibition as part of Manchester Science Festival.
Sally MacDonald – Director of the Science and Industry Museum – said: “Our museum is home to ideas that change the world and continues to reflect and inspire innovators of the future through our exhibitions, activities and events.
“Manchester Science Festival is a major part of this, supporting citizens, scientists and activists to come together to explore and advance ideas for a better world.
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“As we all continue to navigate the ongoing pandemic, Manchester Science Festival may look and feel a little different this year, but we are working closely with partners across the city and the UK to create a compelling public programme that will deliver memorable experiences to visitors, whatever their interests.”
Sir Richard Leese – Leader of Manchester City Council – added: “We are proud of our long tradition of scientific innovation in this city and Manchester Science Festival is one of the boldest, most creative and thought provoking festivals in the country.
“What better way to explore the theme of climate than bring together artists, scientists, citizens, businesses and visitors to the city to play, talk and make the future together.”
You can find more information ahead of the festival via the Manchester Science Festivalhere.
What's On
Scare City returns to abandoned theme park with eight new horror zones this Halloween
Emily Sergeant
Scare City will be back in the North West once again this Halloween, and there’s eight new chilling horror zones this year.
After having firmly cemented itself as the region‘s favourite horror event for the past five years running, Scare City has announced that it’s getting ready for ‘another year of terror’ over in Lancashire, and although it may be the middle of summer right now and spooky season is some time off, tickets are currently on sale.
Once summer is over, the nights draw in, and the temperatures begin to drop, Scare City will be taking over the grounds of the abandoned Camelot Theme Park from next month, just as it has done for the past five years.
As mentioned, this year’s event is set to feature eight terrifying new zones.
Scare City returns to an abandoned North West theme park for another year of terror this Halloween / Credit: Jason Roberts (Supplied)
There is no single story to survive this year. Instead, guests will be thrown from one nightmare into another – from a Victorian barber with blood on his hands, to a demonic orphanage, a cannibal settlement, a cursed forest, and a military bunker where the deceased are no longer dead.
One of the most sinister new additions is ‘Cutthroat & Co’, where the polished world of a Victorian barber conceals something rotten beneath the surface.
There’s also ‘The Devils Orphanage’, which brings a far more unsettling kind of terror with the sounds of children’s laughter and nursery rhymes echoing through the place.
For those who make it beyond these horrors, there is little chance of finding safety.
The ‘Correction Facility’ plunges guests into the abandoned Camelot Asylum. ‘The Settlement’ offers a glimpse into a world after civilisation has collapsed, and ‘Thornveil Coven’ takes guests into a forest controlled by an ancient circle, where paths twist, whispers follow, and the woods themselves appear determined to keep intruders trapped.
‘CarniValley’ may be the only surviving zone from previous editions of Scare City, but survival is no longer guaranteed here.
Even when guests think they have escaped the horror, ‘Rest Bite’ offers no guarantee of safety, as the new food and bar experience has been designed as a retro diner and arcade inhabited by vampires and freaks who have their own ideas about entertainment.
More information about what other horrors await will be announced very soon.
Scare City 2026 will take over Camelot Theme Park, in Charnock Richard near Chorley in Lancashire, from Saturday 26 September and run until early November.
Tickets are now on sale and you can get yours here.
Featured Image – Supplied
What's On
Manchester Museum’s iconic T-Rex Stan is moving for the first time over 20 years
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Museum’s iconic T-Rex Stan is moving locations for the first time over 20 years.
Stan, the famous Tyrannosaurus rex at the heart of Manchester Museum’s Fossils Gallery, is on the move from one historic building to another, as he leaves his home in the Museum next spring for a spectacular residency in a Grade II-listed Edwardian swimming pool.
That’s right – the famous dinosaur is heading on holiday to Victoria Baths, where he’ll be on display in the Gala Pool, marking the first time he has left Manchester Museum since arriving there in 2004.
The process of moving Stan to Victoria Baths is already being tipped as a ‘gargantuan task’.
Manchester Museum’s iconic T-Rex Stan is moving for the first time over 20 years / Credit: The Manc Group
It’s expected that the move will take a team of specialists a full week, as at 12-metres long and 3.7-metres tall, big boy Stan is roughly the size of a double decker bus and his bones must be dismantled and reassembled in a strict order to ensure counterbalance and stop him from toppling over.
During the residency at Victoria Baths, Stan will be on display to the public but will also act as the centrepiece for a full programme of events – with more details set to be announced soon.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for people to experience this incredible Tyrannosaurus rex in an entirely different context,” explained Georgina Young, who is the Acting Director at Manchester Museum.
“Not only is Victoria Baths breathtakingly beautiful, but their team will bring renewed creativity to encounters with Stan.”
Anthony Baker, CEO of the Victoria Baths Trust, added: “Victoria Baths would like to state for the record that we did not invite a T-Rex skeleton into our Grade II-listed swimming pool. Stan has made his own arrangements and we are simply going along with it.
“He is insisting that we open our doors for free so that as many people can visit him as possible and it is very difficult to say no to a giant dinosaur, especially when he asked so nicely.”
Stan the T-Rex will be at Victoria Baths from 22 March to 19 April 2027, and he’ll be free to pop in and say hello to.
Emily Sergeant -
18th September 2020 
