Bradford Science Festival returns this October half-term with its most ambitious programme to date, an immersive city-wide celebration of science, creativity and imagination marking Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture 2025. Running from 25 October to 2 November, the festival will animate venues across the district with interactive zones themed around the Future World: a glimpse of how technology, design and innovation will shape everyday life.
Produced by the National Science and Media Museum, the 2025 edition expands beyond the museum’s walls to include partner venues such as The Broadway, Darley Street Market, Thornbury Centre, and SHINE West Bowling. Each location will host hands-on activities and exhibitions, turning the city into a living laboratory of ideas.
At the museum, the Future Tech zone will offer free activities for all ages, including A Frozen Night, a virtual-reality expedition from the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust transporting visitors to a 1960s Antarctic base. The groundbreaking Born in Bradford research team will invite families to track air quality “villains” around the city in a playful science challenge.
Their work also underpins the festival’s headline exhibition, Living Dots: Nature, People and Place, which opens on 24 October. Created by award-winning data-visualisation studio Tekja, the show transforms community data into an interactive artwork that glows, shifts and pulses in response to people’s stories and wellbeing. Each data point represents a human insight, weaving together the relationships between people, nature and place.
The museum’s Pictureville Cinema will extend its popular Kids Club screenings to feature animated favourites such as Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Meet the Robinsons, Robots, Megamind and Monsters vs Aliens, all for £3 a ticket. The adult programme includes a documentary series on innovation and sustainability, with screenings of Lost for Words (2025), Fashion Reimagined (2002) and The Thinking Game (2024). An accompanying talk, AI and the Future of Science, will be delivered by Matt Clifford, Chair of the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), examining how artificial intelligence is reshaping research and discovery.
Across the city, other zones will explore science through culture. At Darley Street Market, the Future Food zone will invite visitors to explore sustainable ingredients and new culinary frontiers through demonstrations and workshops with scientists from the University of Nottingham, the University of Leeds and the Royal Institution. Meanwhile, microbiologists from the University of Bradford will show how microbes influence health, skin and taste.
The Future Fashion zone at The Broadway will feature a catwalk by the museum’s Young People’s Panel alongside live art by Jeremy Hutchison and interactive workshops on textile waste, design and reuse. At Thornbury Centre, the Future Climate zone will let families make seagrass seed bags with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and explore local climate adaptation through hands-on activities.
Finally, SHINE West Bowling will host the Future Sounds zone, delving into the science of music and inclusivity. Participants can experiment with haptic DJ decks that translate rhythm into touch, or play PhotoSYNTH, a smile-powered musical instrument developed by the Royal Society and DMLab.
Bradford Science Festival has been made possible through support from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Lifelines International, and Cummins. Organisers say the expanded line-up reflects Bradford’s growing reputation as a centre for creativity and innovation.
