IF Oxford science festival fun 

Round & About

IF Oxford science and ideas Festival returns to Oxford between 17th October & 2nd November  

IF Oxford, the city’s science and ideas Festival, will bring more than 100 exciting, intriguing and unexpected events and activities for adults, children and teenagers to more than 28 local venues.  

These include Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford Playhouse, Ultimate Picture Palace, two pubs and a bakery, Oxford City Farm and Oxford’s newest public park in Oxford North, where festival visitors can enjoy a planetary promenade of a landmark solar system sculpture with Creation Theatre.  

You’ll also find another world, through the real-life Narnian wardrobe at Caper Bookshop in Magdalen Road and can hear journalist Tom Ough discuss the real-life stories of scientists and visionaries working to “defuse Doomsday” on Earth. Meanwhile, over at the Weston Library in Broad Street, you can see a rare treasure of early astronomy, a meticulous drawing of the moon as seen by a 17th-century Polish stargazer Johannes Hevelius, and the muse for an avant garde improvised music event by experimental pianist Marcin Masecki. 

Alternatively head to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History after hours to immerse yourself in a soundscape, Moth x Human by violinist and composer Ellie Wilson, which was commissioned by Oxford Contemporary Music. This rich folk-like melody draws upon two lots of moth flight data from a nature reserve in Wiltshire and monoculture farmland, and the comparison sonically represents the impact of biodiversity decline. 

The programme also includes zombies, monsters, medicine and myths a Crufts for robodogs and a consideration of women’s pain: the science, the silence and the system. Speakers include renowned statistician David Spiegelhalter on The Art of Uncertainty, and author Michael Hornberger, who will delve into the story behind Alzheimer’s disease and offer insights into hopeful new research. 

For light entertainment, laugh at this year’s IgNoble prizes for improbable research – from postman’s testicles to bored teachers or enjoy The Great Big Bug Show for all the family with poet Simon Mole and musician Gecko.  

The festival also includes several hands-on family days around the city, with a new Zone ONE in Oxford North, and the return of the popular Explorazone (now at New Road Church, Bonn Square), Techworks at the ARC Oxford science park in Cowley, and BLAST in Blackbird Leys. Young investigators can analyse bones, hack the planet whilst photographer of all ages are invited to the UKAEA Campus in Culham for a one-off chance to take pictures of energy engineering at the UK’s national laboratory for fusion research.