Meet the Reviewers - The Brighton Science Festival, 5 February - 1 March 2015

From this Thursday 5 February Brighton will be taken over by the Brighton Science Festival. 

Think cycling along the seafront to gain an insight into the solar system; an exhibition exploring Cancer cells; Hiroshima alongside Beethoven's Symphony No. 7; making your own rocket; finding out about dreams or going to a pub for a talk on the stars. 

In total there are 75 events across Brighton and Hove in 35 different venues, with two programmes, one for adults and one for kids.

With so much to see I've asked some fellow Bloggers to join the party and review some of the events too.

Here's a short intro on each of us with a few events we are looking forward to seeing over the next month.

Meet the Reviewers:

Brighton Mama - follow @ourseasidebaby

‘Brighton Mama’ writes over at Our Seaside Baby, a Parenting and Lifestyle blog based in the sunny seaside town of Brighton. She is mummy to a cheeky toddler and blogs about life in and around Brighton.

 - MUSIC FOR CURIOUS MINDS: DARK FORMATIONS 

Thurs 12 February, All Saints Church,
Exploring the dark side of science via new music, historical film and witness accounts of WWII bombings and Hiroshima. Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 7 concludes this multimedia event integrating orchestra, electronics and 1940s radio sets.

As the title suggests I am curious about seeing this film and seeing the interesting yet strange combination of the Hiroshima bombings and Beethoven. It sounds quite heavy to be honest but I’m sure extremely thought provoking.


 - MATHEMAGICAL PRE-SCHOOL CLASSES 

Thurs 19 February, All Saints Church Hall
Through singing, actions, props, games, toys, puzzles and child-led play, Mathemagical offers children a fantastic start in maths. Fun and active learning.

I love anything interactive and so does my toddler. He’s so curious about everything at the moment and with a focus on child-led play this event sounds ideal and hopefully a lot of fun!

 - COMPLEXITIES OF MODERN EXISTENCE (A SCIENCE CABARET) Sat 21 February, The Basement
After a fantastically successful sell-out London launch, C.O.M.E. are coming to Brighton to grapple with the big questions in life. A night of intellectual entertainment hosted by musical comedian, Jonny Berliner.

What a wonderful mix of intellectual discussion, comedy, cabaret and science! I’m intrigued to see how it will all fit together. 

Annabelle Spender - follow @lillyringlet, LillyRinglet blog

A social media and photography addict who laughs like a guinea pig and has more taste buds than most people. Enjoys sewing and singing at high frequencies.

 - A CANCER LANDSCAPE Mon 16 - Sat 28 February, Onca Gallery, FREE.

An exhibition exploring cancer as a physical reality and an emotional journey. Full colour prints of actual cancer cells are exhibited alongside personal emotional responses. You are invited to add to the exhibition in this creative space making it a truly living landscape.

I worked at a Hospice for a year so the Cancer Landscape is a really interesting one for me but I can see why a lot of people might not be interested.

 - MUSIC FOR CURIOUS MINDS: OPEN UP MUSIC Thurs 19 Feb, Unitarian Church 

Experience the latest in Assistive Music Technology for physically disabled musicians, demonstrated by developers from Open Up.

After working with MERU and Joy of Sound to enable Children with disabilities to access music for my dissertation, I'm excited to see how technology has advanced in this area since 2010.

 - NERD NITE BRIGHTON: SCIENCE FESTIVAL SPECIAL Thurs 19 Feb, Komedia Studio
Three speakers with nerdish tendencies convey their passion in 20 minutes to a lay audience who wash down morsels of science, medicine, society and nerd culture with their favourite tipple and free cake!

I love random facts and figures and to mix that with cake and nerd culture is just too tempting!

 - HOW THE VICTORIANS RUINED THE WORLD Fri 20 Feb, The Basement
Flushing toilets, tube trains and Christmas trees in every home. Just some of the finest legacies of the Victorian age. Or did they give us a global sanitation crisis, rush hour misery and annual family fights over the remains of a chocolate selection box? Dr Kat Arney and Helen Arney tell all…

Basically, I love Steam Punk! If you don't know what that is, it's time you looked it up. Plus my fascination for Victoriana makes this absolutely perfect for me. 



Sarah Agnew - follow on Twitter @IrishAggers

Northern Irish, lover of Kemptown village, the arts and the sea. Intrigued by quirky, true stories and the eighteenth century.

NIGHT SCHOOL: THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP AND DREAMING Sat 28 February, Sallis Benney Theatre

In a talk that won’t send you to sleep, but might make you think differently about it, Richard Wiseman uncovers the power of the sleeping mind, including decoding your dreams, getting the perfect night’s sleep and learning things without leaving your bed.

Sleep? Who sleeps these days! Picking up a few tips for the perfect night's sleep is just what I need. Plus I've been having a few dreams recently...

CYCLE THE SOLAR SYSTEM Sat 7 February, Hove Seafront

Join Cycling Science for a fun three mile ride from Hove to Brighton Marina along the seafront cycle path, exploring the Solar System at 1:1,000,000,000 scale, to get a better understanding of the vastness of our nearby neighbourhood in space.

The idea of gaining an insight into the vastness of the solar system while cycling along the seafront, sounds like a lovely way to spend a Saturday.  

SUNDAY ASSEMBLY WITH ANIL SETH Sun 8 February, St Andrew’s Church

A non-religious Sunday gathering which aims to uplift and inspire through readings, talks, silent contemplation and classic pop songs. Oh, and there’s tea and cake! With guest speaker Anil Seth, Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience.

This event interestingly appealed to all three of us.  An uplifting and inspirational gathering could be the perfect winter antidote.




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