Behind the scenes of the Manchester Science Festival at MMU

Guest post - Jo Keogh, MMU

The Manchester Science Festival is in its 7^th year and what a year it is going to be. At least that’s my opinion. My name is Jo Keogh and last year I was part of the 2012 Manchester Science Festival in MMU. I used my passion for Lichen and my artistic background to give festival goers a taste of identify and engaging with these wonderful organisms.

A year later and I am a key part of MMU ‘s Saturday ‘Brains of the Future’, previously ‘Science Extravaganza’. And even if I do say so myself this year is set to be even better.

This year instead of calling ourselves the Extravaganza we have themed our events around brains, which are an ongoing theme throughout the Festival this year.  There will be a neuron map to help you explore the space and some fantastic games, puzzles and demonstrations to tease and test your brain!

But I have not just been working with the staff and students of MMU. There is a team of partners who have all done their bit to help inspire and push this years festival to a new level.

I would personally recommend the Science after Dark, which contain some great events from MMU, including a trailblazer gothic quiz and MMU's Bad Bookclub featuring a screening of Dr Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (all about bacteria, microbes, antibiotics and more).

It has been a very exciting time of sneak peeks and curious titles. There’s a lot of hard work and dedication that has been and is still, going into the preparation for the festival launch. Make sure you don’t miss the fun view the Manchester Science Festival Guide here. 

Manchester Science Festival 2013 is here

Welcome to the Manchester Science Festival 2013. Today we are thrilled to launch our programme for this year’s Festival, taking place from Thursday 24 October to Sunday 3 November.  Check out our website for all the information or pick up a brochure from MOSI or loads of venues about the city. 

You will see that this year we have our usual packed family programme of hands-on activities and workshops to inspire and engage budding young scientists across Greater Manchester and beyond.  There is also an eclectic mix of events for discerning adults looking for alternative science (and technology and engineering and maths) entertainment: we’ve got films, plays, an art exhibition, comedy,  some special brains-themed events and more.  We’re also launching our new citizen science experiment, #Hooked, where you can get involved to help scientists unlock the secrets as to what makes music catchy.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be blogging about different aspects of the programme as we gear up for the events.  And if you are a blogger yourself – we need you!  We are looking for bloggers (or aspiring bloggers) to help us write about, document and spread the word of our Festival events.  We are holding a special bloggers event at the Brains: The Mind as Matter exhibition at MOSI on Tuesday 24 September. You can apply and find out more details here.

Manchester Science Festival is back for its seventh year, proudly produced by MOSI, supported by our headline sponsor Siemans and major sponsors Electricity Northwest, University of Salford and Waters.  The Festival is brought to you by a unique group of partners consisting of the universities of Bolton, Manchester, MMU and Salford, the Institute of Physics, the British Science Association, Sound of Science and many other supporters.  We can’t wait to hear what you think of this year’s programme.