The Bristol city region is home to many local, national and international events, covering a wide variety of scientific disciplines and related technologies. A full list of forthcoming events can be found on our events pages, but here are just some of the key dates to watch out for throughout the year.

Festival of Ideas – May

The Bristol Festival of Ideas’ sixth annual May Festival. Launched a new theme this year – the Bristol Phenomenon – which looks at creativity in Bristol through time. Whether it be the engineering genius of Brunel, Thomas Beddoes’ work in Hotwells, film, theatre and television, or today’s work in animation, digital media and aerospace, Bristol is one of the leading creative cities, full of innovative and imaginative people, and we celebrate that.

See www.ideasfestival.co.uk or our events page (tagged FoI) for more details.

Festival of Nature – June

The Festival of Nature is the UK’s biggest celebration of the natural world. Organised by the Bristol Natural History Consortium, it is an annual event held at the Harbourside in Bristol on the first weekend in June. The 2009 event will be the sixth anniversary of the Festival and will take place over 6/7 June.

Cafe Scientifique/Science Cafe

Cafe Scientifique is a national network with a local infrastructure. It is a place where anyone can go to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Meetings take place in cafes, bars, restaurants and even theatres, but always outside a traditional academic context.

Cafe Scientifique is a forum for debating science issues, not a shop window for science. It are committed to promoting public engagement with science and to making science accountable. Local cafes scientifique are held in at the Raven in Bath, the Tobacco Factory in Bristol and Theory Cafe at Explore-At-Bristol. To find out more future discussions, follow your local link or visit our events pages:

Cafe Scientifique Bath
Bristol Science Cafe

National Science and Engineering Week – March National Science and Engineering Week (formerly National Science Week) is an opportunity for people of all ages, areas and organisations to take part in science, engineering and technology activities. it is coordinated by the British Science Association in partnership with the Engineering and Technology Board. It is funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Cheltenham Science Festival – June
Cheltenham Science Festival is an annual event, held in June, and according to Professor Lord Winston is “undeniably and undoubtedly the best science festival”. The 2008 events sold a record-breaking 19,000 tickets and the programme read as a whos who of the science world. A full round-up of the event can be found at Telegraph TV.

Geek Pop Geek Pop is a free online music festival featuring artists inspired by science. Every year, we bring together musicians from around the globe in a gleeful celebration of geek culture. You can find all the performances at the website or download them and listen to them at your leisure.

Institute of Physics
The South West branch (one of thirteen regional branches of the Institute) organises lectures, meetings and conferences in Bristol and the South West, and works locally to promote physics, physics education and public understanding of physics.

Events take place regularly in the Bristol City region and details can be found on the Branch website: http://sw.iop.org. All meetings are free to members and visitors and many are suitable for sixth-form students.