Businesses join forces to support national festival in Chelmsford
Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and the British Science Association (BSA) have announced the line-up of sponsors and partners supporting the British Science Festival 2021.
Teledyne e2v will be the Festival's Principal Partner, alongside Willmott Dixon and Eden Project Learning as Festival Partners, and Chelmsford City Council as Major Partner. In addition, there are a raft of local venues who will be supporting the Festival by hosting events and activities, including the Civic Theatre, Cramphorn Studio Theatre, Hot Box Live and Ideas Hub.
Held in partnership with Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), this year's Festival programme has been specially curated to highlight Chelmsford's strengths in sustainability, healthcare and engineering – and the line-up of sponsors and partners reflects this.
• Teledyne e2v will be sponsoring a special screening of The Martian at the Cramphorn Theatre on 11 September, in addition to supporting a range of space, engineering, health, and sustainability events held during the week in their role as Principal Partner.
• Willmott Dixon will be supporting a range of discussion events and activities on the ARU campus, related to sustainability and climate change.
• Eden Project Learning has worked with ARU to plant a wildflower meadow on the university campus and will be running mini meadow-making workshops.
• Chelmsford City Council is supporting ARU and the BSA to welcome the world premiere of immersive installation BODY, by award-winning artists Walk The Plank. The outdoor experience will be located in Guy Harlings Garden, thanks to the participation of Chelmsford Cathedral.
The full list of venue partners and other activity partners who are working with ARU and the BSA on delivering, creating and hosting Festival content include:
• Chelmsford City Theatres – highlights include a special filming of the BBC's The Sky at Night Question Time and an 'in conversation' discussion with Sir Patrick Vallance and Dr Jenny Harries about the COVID-19 pandemic – and its impact on trust in science – to be held at the Civic Theatre, as well as a range of events taking place at the Cramphorn Studio.
• Hot Box Live – highlights include a special performance of a piece of music, composed by ARU academic Domenico Vicinanza, which brings to life the "sound" of Yellowstone's geysers, as well as an immersive performance of Vector, which allows audiences to experience the decision making and ethics of vaccine development.
• Ideas Hub – the Festival is using two Ideas Hub venues – The Art Place in The Meadows Shopping Centre and their soon to open venue, which was previously Topshop in High Chelmer Shopping Centre. Highlights include Climate Cafes, where participants are invited to share their hopes, fears and dreams for the environment, a music therapy workshop led by ARU researchers, and a 'Chemistry of Curry' demonstration where audiences are taken on an aromatic journey across the periodic table.
• Snapping the Stiletto – the Festival is partnering with Snapping the Stiletto for a project called 'Diary of a Pandemic Year'. We are collecting stories from Essex women about their experiences of 2020/21, which will be recorded for a listening bench to be placed in Bell Meadow Park for audiences to listen to during the Festival.
• Metal – generously providing in-kind loan of the listening bench for the Snapping the Stiletto and British Science Festival 'Diary of a Pandemic Year' partnership.
These thought-provoking events are among a line-up of 100 free outdoor talks, immersive installations, and socially distanced indoor events that delve into the stories, ideas and the people behind science and innovation in Chelmsford and beyond.
Professor Roderick Watkins, Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said:
Professor Trevor Cross, Vice President for Innovation at Teledyne e2v, said:
Antonio Benitez, Director of the British Science Festival:
