The 2025 Science Fair was on Saturday 15th November
Our ever popular OSF – Family Fair Day returned on Saturday 15th November, a busy day was had by all!
The Science Fair did, as ever, take over Otley Courthouse, with additional hands on digital activities in Otley Library, for our familiar, family friendly activities, workshops and demonstrations. We were alive with local and regional groups showing off the best science Yorkshire has to offer.
Here’s the list of who was there and what happened (numbers refer to locations on the map below).
| Where: | What: |
|---|---|
| Courtyard 1 | Otley Amateur Radio Society How do radios work? Listen and speak live to radio operators around the world! |
| Lobby 2 & 3 | Institute of Physics Lightning, colours, sounds – oh my! Hands-on interactive demos and Freebies to give away! |
| Robing Room 4 | Institute of Engineering and Technology The Robots are here! See them, play with them and win a pen with a difference! |
| Court Room: | |
| 5 & 6 | The Grammar School At Leeds See colours change before your eyes and hear chemicals ‘snap, crackle and pop’! |
| 7 | Fossils In T’Hills Meet Bradford’s very own 300-million-year-old amphibian – the Pholiderpeton! |
| 8 & 9 | Wharfedale Naturalists Magnify nature, make models, Christmas Tree decorations and birdfeeders! |
| 10 | Leeds Geological Association Look under our feet… See Yorkshire rocks, minerals and fossils close up… (free) ‘Lucky Dip’! |
| 11 | University of Leeds: Materials Materials surround us – play, test and enjoy what makes materials matter! |
| 12 | Institute of Mechanical Engineers Meet the cranes – drive and experiment with them! |
| 13 | Wildlife Friendly Otley Learn all about Owls! Free Face-painting 10 – 1pm! |
| 14 | Bradford Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Wool and science?! Let us spin you a yarn… |
| UpStairs | |
| Open Cell 15 | Glacial Lake Observatory Travel 5,000m to the top of the world and see the Himalayan Glaciers by VR! |
| Art Room 16 | Lazy Photon Make and take a cyanotype, one of the oldest types of photos or ‘blueprint’! |
| Also: | |
| Maker Space | Play with stars: create your own LED constellation |
| Otley Library | Visit Otley Hub & Library (5 mins walk across town) for Coding, VR and Robotic fun for everyone! |
| Courthouse Café | Open all day serving hot and cold drinks, cakes and snacks |
| > download > | Click/tap here to download a pdf of this list and the map |
And here’s the map to find your way around
Just in case you’re not familar with Otley, here’s the town centre with how to get from the Courthouse to the Library/Hub marked
Thanks goes to all the stall holders, the volunteers, the Courthouse and, of course, the 500+ people who came and made the day such a great success.
2026 potential stall holders / presenters:
Looking ahead to 2026 we will be in touch with you if you have been a stall holder before, but if you have not and you’d like to join us on the day we will be adding an expresssion of interest facility here once our plans for the ’26 Festival are firmed up. We really look forward to hearing from you.
Otley Science Festival 