Once again we have a full schedule for this year’s 15th (!) Science Festival, running from Monday 13th to Saturday 18th November, with additional “satellite” activities on Sunday 19th.
During the week we have a set of great speakers on diverse topics, another Science Quiz (with food option), a Science Café, and something different – a Friday evening introduction to cheese science, with tasting!
On Saturday is, of course, the family oriented Science Fair from 10-4, centred on the Courthouse but with additional things going on in Otley Library and the Bridge Church. Then on Sunday 19th the Moon Palace Observatory is visiting Otley.
This is how Otley Science Festival 2023 looks:
- Monday 13th, 10.30am – Early Explorers (for under 5s)
- Monday 13th, 7.30pm – The Science Quiz is back in the Courthouse, including the option of a fish and chip / vegetarian supper
- Tuesday 14th, 7.30pm – Sadly cancelled due to illness – Professor Dame Jane Francis Director of the British Antarctic Survey looking at what we can learn from the past, when Antarctica was green
- Wednesday 15th, 7.30pm – “Ultimate Dinosaurs” family show with Professor Ben Garrod
- Thursday 16th, 7.30pm – Science Café
- Friday 17th 2pm matinee with Dr Nick Summerton on Roman Health Care
- Friday 17th, 7.30pm – Creating Cheese with “McGlincheese”
- Saturday 18th 10am – 4pm the ever popular Science Fair, this time with extra space
- Saturday 18th, 7.30pm – the disturbing “Control” with Dr Adam Rutherford addressing the dark history and troubled present of eugenics
- Sunday 19th, 3pm – 5.30pm Moon Palace Observatory drop in sessions
- Sunday 19th, 6pm – 9.30pm Moon Palace Observatory observation sessions (sold out, sorry)
As well as these public events there are our events for schools (KS1 and KS2) running Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday daytimes. Home schoolers are welcome to join these. Further details can be found on the Schools Page.
Monday 13th November, 10.30 – 12.00
Early Explorers
The science special for the under 5’s! Join us to let your child investigate with their senses and explore the scientific world around them.
Activity for local families with children aged 0 to 5. Sorry, no group bookings due to limited tickets.
Thanks to Otley Children’s Centre for their contribution to this event. Supported by Otley Town Council.
Tickets £3 per child, accompanying adult free: click/tap here
Monday 13th November, 19.30
Science Quiz
Polish up your science knowledge and come and join the fun. Technically not a pub quiz, but the bar will be open 😉 Guaranteed no questions about the soaps, but you might need to know your stars!
We’ll also be serving fish ‘n’ chips or veggie lasagne from Otley’s Maypole Fisheries in the interval.
Each team can have a maximum of 6 members – to avoid disappointment, book your table early.
Tickets £12 with food, £7 without : click/tap here
Tuesday 14th, 19.30
Cancelled due to illness
When Antarctica Was Green: Fossil Plants Reveal Antarctica’s History
Professor Dame Jane Francis
British Antactic Survey
Director of the British Antarctic Survey since 2013, Professor Dame Jane Francis is a pioneering scientist whose study of fossil plants and their use as tools for climate interpretation is recognised internationally.
Although Antarctica is now covered by ice and snow, life was very different during past warm climates 100 million years ago – Antarctica was green.
Fossil plants (leaves, wood, pollen, seeds and flowers) preserved in rocks from Antarctica show that the land was once covered in lush green forests that flourished in warmer climates, even though the continent was over the South Pole. Dinosaurs lived in the forests, now preserved as fossils.
Over millions of years the climate of the Earth cooled and ice developed on Antarctica. The land is now covered by ice sheets up to 4km thick but the ice sheets are now melting as our climate warms due to human activity. As the ice melts, sea levels are rising across the planet, impacting millions of people and cities on coastlines.
Plant fossils can tell us about warm climates of Antarctica in the past and provide us with a window into life at the poles in our future warm world.
This year will be the 15th year of Otley Science Festival. The week-long festival shines a light on new perspectives and new ways of thinking. There are talks, a quiz and a free fair to increase awareness and widen participation in science, especially in young people, so that they can pursue their own scientific careers and adventures!
Event suitable for adults and children 11+ years
Tickets £10 / Under 16s £8 : click/tap here
Wednesday 15th November, 19.30
Ultimate Dinosaurs
Professor Ben Garrod
Ultimate Dinosaurs is the hit stage show starring dinosaur aficionado Dr Ben Garrod. Get ready to go on an exciting pre-historic adventure as Ben talks you through the deadliest predators that ever roamed the planet. Yes dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex, Allosaurus and Spinosaurus would have walked or swam right where you are now!
Dr Ben presents an interactive, educational and highly entertaining show using film footage from the BBC’s ‘Planet Dinosaur’. So come and test your knowledge against Dr Ben in this hit live interactive show which is bigger and better than ever.
Suitable for families and children in KS2 and above
Tickets £9 for children, £11 for adults or £35 for a family ticket: click/tap here
Thursday 16th November, 19.30
Science Café
As ever in Science Festival week the Science Café promises to bring its diverse menu of scientific topics delivered in bite sized chunks for your entertainment.
We will have our traditional trio of speakers, each given a quarter of an hour and plenty of time for you to ask questions and quiz them afterwards. Join us for a relaxed and fun evening of science suitable for all ages and all interests.
Full details will be on the Science Cafés page.
Tickets £6 (under 18s free, but still require a ticket) : click/tap here
Friday 17th November, 14.00
Medicine & Health Care in Ancient Rome (and what it can still teach us today)
Dr Nick Summerton
This interactive afternoon session (including some practical work!) will consider the following questions:
- Did any of the medical or surgical treatments being offered by Roman healers work?
- Should we dismiss the activities being undertaken at ancient healing sites as gimmicks?
- In the Roman world what was the balance between prevention, treatment and hospital care?
- Can modern doctors learn anything from their Roman forbears about looking, listening and speaking with patients?
Nick is a retired general practitioner, clinical academic and public health physician. In 2002 he was awarded a medical doctorate from Oxford.
He has an extensive publication record and is the author of six books – two of which focus on Roman Medicine. Nick is also a doctoral student (Roman Medical History & Retrospective Diagnosis) at Durham.
Tickets £6 : tap/click here
Friday 17th November, 19.30
Creating Cheese with “McGlincheese”
A Science and Cheese Evening offering guests great award-winning cheeses, a cheese making demonstration and a presentation focussing on the chemistry and physics of cheese and cheese making.
Dave McGlinchy established McGlincheese Ltd in 2015. He specialises in providing wonderful cheese events and promoting small artisanal cheesemakers.
Tickets £15 to include cheese and snacks : click/tap here
Saturday 18th November, 10.00 to 16.00
Science Fair – Supersized!
For our 15th Science Festival the ever popular Science Fair is supersizing! We are expanding out of the Courthouse (and Otley Library) into additional space in the nearby Bridge Church
Get down to this year’s Science Fair for more space, more stalls, more demonstrations, and great experiments to try out. The Courthouse and Bridge Church rooms will be alive with local and regional groups showing off the best science Yorkshire has to offer and we anticipate there will be additional activities in Otley Library as well. From physics to biology and engineering to wildlife, there really is something for everyone!
Cakes, teas, coffees, and lunch available in the café all day.
Free event with something for everyone
Saturday 18th, 19.30
Control
Dr Adam Rutherford
Geneticist, BBC broadcaster and author Adam Rutherford will be presenting a talk based on his latest book ‘Control: The Dark History and Troubled Present of Eugenics’.
Throughout history, people have sought to reduce suffering, eliminate disease and enhance desirable qualities in their children.
Today, with new gene editing techniques, conversations are happening about tinkering with the DNA of our unborn children to make them smarter, fitter, stronger.
Deeply steeped in contemporary genetics, ‘Control’ offers a vital account of one of the defining – and most destructive – ideas of the twentieth century.
Suitable for age 16+
CONTROL is persuasive, sensible and ultimately reassuring GUARDIAN
Fizzy and pugnacious . . . brilliant . . . A fierce and funny broadside against eugenics and its admirers SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
CONTROL’s strength is that it provides not only much-needed guidance for these conversations by reminding us of the horrors of the past, but also uses scientific evidence to dismantle the viability of these ideas NEW SCIENTIST
Tickets £18 : click/tap here
Sunday 19th
The Moon Palace Observatory visits Otley
A gift from East Leeds to the world, Moon Palace is your ticket to the stars without leaving the city. Created by artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison, this new artwork and mobile observatory is inspired by the legacy of John Smeaton and the observatory he had in East Leeds.
Bringing together creativity and art, engineering and science, collaboration and public good, Moon Palace is an absurdly joyful experience you don’t want to miss.
The Observatory will be parked in the Licks Car Park for the afternoon and evening. During the afternoon there will be drop in observataroy sessions between 3pm and 5.30pm so please come along. In the evening there are pre-booked 90 minute observation sessions at 6pm and 8.30pm. Unfortunately these are currently sold out.
You can get full details on the afternoon sessions at https://leeds2023.co.uk/whats-on/moon-palace-daytime-observation-session-in-otley
Information on the evening sessions (and check ticket availability) is at https://leeds2023.co.uk/whats-on/moon-palace-after-dark-observation-session-in-otley
Further information and tickets:
All events will be held at Otley Courthouse with tickets available from the Courthouse in person and on line.
We’d really like to hear what you thought of the Science Festival as a whole, so if you have attended, or even just thought about attending, then please follow this link and give us your feedback (note: closed at the moment, will reopen closer to the event)
The address of Otley Courthouse is below.
Otley Courthouse Arts Centre
Courthouse Street
Otley
West Yorks
LS21 3AN
Phone: 01943 467466.
You can email Otley Science Festival here: info@otleysciencefestival.co.uk
or follow us on Twitter @otleyscience
Otley Science Festival is supported by a number of sponsors whose help enables us to put on this great event. Our thanks go to all of them.
For the record, the details of last year’s Science Festival can be found here. Looking further back the 2021 Science Festival is here. 2020’s Covid impacted Science Festival here and back to those innocent pre-Covid days, you can find the record of 2019’s Science Festival here
Otley Science Festival 