Festival About Town February 2023

What to do, and where to find it!

Offering a range of activities around Swindon Town from 13-19 February, the Festival starts off with fun and breathtaking displays right across the town, before heading to the Deanery Academy, Swindon for the grand finale of explosive shows, talks, panels and exhibitors. Entry to the main festival, on the 17 and 18 February, is free, but we recommend booking your tickets to reserve your spaces. Under 18s go free to all shows and events, although there are some additional fees for adults, and early booking is recommended as many shows and talks may be fully booked.

All Festival activities around Town are free for everyone. 

For the full round up, check out the range of Festival of Tomorrow About Town events and activities here!

The Festival of Tomorrow - FOT23 About Town
The Festival of Tomorrow - FOT23 About Town

Get up close to the Sun!

See the Sun, which you will find at the STEAM Museum from 13-19 February, is a 3D recreation of the Sun. Created by public artist Alex Rinsley and Professor Robert Walsh, professor of Astrophysics at the University of Central Lancashire. The Sun is making its debut at Swindon and is definitely not to be missed.

No booking is necessary, and entry is free. Although highly recommended, a museum admission ticket is not required to view the installation.  

Find out more
The Festival of Tomorrow - FOT23 About Town
The Festival of Tomorrow - FOT23 About Town
The Festival of Tomorrow - FOT23 About Town

Free family activites beneath the Sun at STEAM

And you will find a range of free activities everyday alongside the display, whilst you take in the view.

From Monday to Saturday, join the team from IF Oxford to:
  • Experiment with phosphorescent paper and UV torches to create shadow prints at the Glow Gallery
  • Discover the properties of light and make an illuminated star to take home. 

Plus, special events from Knapsack Productions:

  • Journey into Space - Live experiments, mass participation and spacesuits! (Tuesday morning, only)

In space no one can hear you scream, especially if your aren’t wearing a spacesuit and your capsule springs a leak, or is hit by a meteor, or burns up on re-entry, or any of the other terrible mishaps that could really put a dent in your plans for a weekend away on the moon.

  • The Invisible Museum - A fun, exciting, interactive show for 7-11 year olds and their families, which reveals hidden voices throughout history. (Wednesday morning only)

Have you heard of the Invisible Museum? No? Well you may not have heard of the people whose stories are told in the Museum either. Join The Curator of the Museum as she unpacks the artifacts she has collected through history and tries to fix her time-travel device to get the objects back home.

Through interactive story-telling, hands on experiments and object handling, The Curator will take you on a journey through history. Take a fresh look at the past and discover the people who, despite their significant contributions, aren’t in the galleries, museums or history books.

The Festival of Tomorrow - FOT23 About Town
The Festival of Tomorrow - FOT23 About Town
The Festival of Tomorrow - FOT23 About Town

Swindon's AR Space Trail

We've hidden 12 different Augmented Reality, space-themed models around Swindon. Find the Swindon's Space Trail boards, scan the QR code with your phone, and see the models come to life! 

The Space Trail, supported by the UK Space Agency, uses twelve different AR, space-themed models, all created by Octagon Studio.

See how many you can find, take a screenshot of the models and post them online, tagging our social media accounts and using #FestivalOfTomorrow. All the locations will be listed here, as they're added. 

How many will you find?

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The Festival of Tomorrow - FOT23 About Town

Rocking Robots and Rovers

Swindon Hub will host a Rocking Robots and Rovers workshop with a range of arts and crafts activities for young families with visual artist and ESERO-uk space ambassador, Helen Schell.

The activities, held at Swindon Hub on 15-16 February, will be inspired by NASA and the UK's plans for missions to the Moon!

The Festival of Tomorrow - FOT23 About Town

Science Sparks

A family workshop where you will learn about the Sun with the use of a plasma ball and ignite your inner scientist, will be held at three different Swindon Libraries. Science Sparks will be at West Swindon Library on 13 February, Central Library on 14 February and Park Library on 15 February. 

Tickets are free but make sure to reserve a space.

Reserve your space here

Stories written in Stardust

Stories written in Stardust is an immersive art exhibition, using projection mapping, and created by local artist, Harrie Dearing.

The experience is hosted from 13 - 16 February, inside the atmospheric small pool of the historic Health Hydro on Milton Road.

Tickets have already been booking fast, with the possibility of more dates being added, due to high demand.

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