Discover Festival

Newcastle University’s Discover Festival returns to Great North Museum: Hancock. Join us for a free, one-day celebration of hands-on discovery, creativity and family fun.

Drop in between 10.00 and 15.00 to explore a world of ideas through interactive activities and exhibitions designed to inspire all ages. Travel across continents at Around the World Club, uncover the secrets of the mind at How does your brain create reality?, or become a ‘medicine maker’ at Marvellous medicines to learn how treatments reach exactly where they’re needed in the body.

You can also design your own planet or pack your backpack and join Victorian explorer Gertrude Bell in our bookable workshops (Advance booking required via ncl.ac.uk/discover-fest/ from early May.)

Discover Festival is Newcastle University’s free, annual celebration of curiosity and creativity. Come along, get involved and immerse yourself in a day of wonder and exploration at Great North Museum: Hancock.

Around the world club
10.00 - 15.00
Explore languages through culture. Crafts inspired by stories and traditions from around the world, short video clips, and the chance to learn a few new words from a new language.

Design and make a planet
10:00-10:45 | 11:00-11:45 | 12:00-12:45 | 13:15-14:00 | 14:15-15:00
Unleash your imagination with this hands-on activity. Will you design a gas giant, or a rocky moon? Will you craft tundras, forests, or oceans? You decide! (Book online from early May via ncl.ac.uk/discover-fest/)

Explore with Gertrude Bell Pack your backpack and join Victorian explorer Gertrude
10:00-11:15 | 14:00-15:15
Bell on her journey from Durham to Arabia. Take part in this fun, interactive storytelling workshop. (Book online from early May via ncl.ac.uk/discover-fest/)

How does your brain create reality?
10.00 - 15.00
From crafts and colouring to mind-bending illusions and fun sense tests, find out how your senses work together. See what happens when they get mixed up!

Marvellous medicines
10.00 - 15.00
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a ‘medicine maker’? Come and discover the tips and tricks we’ve learnt that help us get medicines right to where they need to be in the body.

Maths in the ancient world How did the Romans do maths?
10.00 - 15.00
Find out how the Romans bought, sold, counted, and calculated using real ancient technologies. Take home your own papyrus, too!

Picture This: A world of research
10.00 - 15.00
Enjoy an exhibition of artwork and personal stories exploring different paths into research. Then join family-friendly activities and meet the researchers behind the work.

Secret life of the gut
10.00 - 15.00
Explore microscope images from real gut tissue. Discover how scientists use colour to learn about health and disease. Have a go at creating your own colourful secret messages and patterns, too.

Sharing stories
10.00 - 15.00
Work together to build and illustrate your own story. Test what you know about books. Sign up for our Book Sharing Challenge.

Sugar detectives
10.00 - 15.00
Did you know that some insects eat a lot of sugar? Join us to explore the world of greenfly. Get hands on with microscopes and take the sugar measurement challenge.

Twinkle, twinkle, Arti
10.00 - 15.00
Step into the world of Arti, a storybook created with families to support children’s wellbeing. Don't forget to create your own star for the community mural! With free resources to take home and carry on the creativity.

Discover Festival is Newcastle University's free, one-day festival of interactive family-fun in the heart of the North East. Immerse yourself into a world of wonder and exploration with activities and events to inspire all ages.

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/discover-fest/