Hull city centre is set to come alive with creativity and innovation as it hosts an exciting four-day festival from Thursday 13 - Sunday 16 March 2025.
The festival will explore the dynamic connections between science, technology, engineering, art, and maths.
The four-day extravaganza will bring together two days of educational events for schools followed by a weekend of exciting science and arts-based activities, workshops and shows, for visitors with a large-scale evening spectacle of light installations trailing across the city centre.
‘Colliderfest 2025’ will kick off with two inspiring days dedicated to children and young people, encouraging them to embrace careers in science, green energy and innovation. Attendees can look forward to a diverse array of workshops, performances, and interactive exhibitions led by industry professionals and world-renowned scientists. A focus on environmental issues will also be prominent, sparking conversations and actions that address our planet's challenges.
The latter half of the festival, on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 March, will shift its focus to families and young people, featuring an engaging programme filled with discovery zones spread across the Museums Quarter, Ferens Art Gallery, and Hull Truck Theatre to name a few. They will showcase interactive exhibits, live performances, and family fun and hands-on engineering challenges for everyone to enjoy. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in both entertaining and thought-provoking discussions that impact on culture and society and challenge preconceived notions about what science is and what it can be.
The festival programme will include family-friendly shows by a wide range of science communicators. Visitors will also be able to participate in a wide range of hands-on activities, workshops and experiments including exotic animal handling, state of the art robotics demonstrations and activities demonstrating the impacts of environment and climate change. Venues will also host a range of activities created by both academics at the University of Hull and local science-based industries that will inspire an interest in the world of science and technology.
Programme highlights include an outdoor physical theatre performance, featuring a 13-foot-tall sea giant puppet telling a moving tale about our earth’s climate emergency told trough dance, movement and masterful puppeteering. This spectacle is designed specifically for family and festival audiences and tells the magical story of Eko, a sea giant who rises from the deep ocean and who encounters, on the shore, a courageous little girl called Violet.
This inaugural event, a collaborative effort between Hull City Council, the Hull Maritime project, Hull Museums and Gallery, and the University of Hull.
Experience a magical evening of light, art, and movement as the city centre transforms on Friday 14 March. Follow a trail of stunning displays at various locations and join us for an unforgettable night that brings the city centre to life.
The event will take place alongside Hull’s second Cultural Tides conference on Friday 14 March, when the Culture and Heritage Strategy 2025-2030 will launch at Hull Truck Theatre.
