Manchester Science Festival 2015 Launch Party

Last night I had the absolute pleasure of attending the launch party for Manchester Science Festival 2015. Taking place at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester city centre, I knew that this event would be something a little out of my comfort zone, yet something I was really keen to get involved in. This was in celebration of the European City of Science, a year-long celebration of science in Manchester – an award which is a first for the UK. Manchester’s science history is so prestigious and although I have touched on it before, I’m really keen to share more of our hometown’s fantastic credentials.

Arriving at the Museum of Science and Industry at night is always a thrill – night at the museum, anyone? I have such a soft spot for this museum and always recommend it to anyone that I find out hasn’t been yet (if you haven’t, you really should!). It’s an incredible free museum right in the heart of the city, covering a huge amount of land and many different warehouses full of tons of different exhibitions – it even has it’s own steam railway, the first one ever built in the world no less! Last night, we were welcome to the main hall,Revolution Manchester Gallery, with exhibits still in place and a plethora of excited delegates awaiting the night’s activities.

 MOSI really is a fantastic venue for an event – something so different and memorable – and everything looks so different at night. Aside from the activities  set up for the Manchester Science Festival 2015 launch party, it was really cool to be able to see the exhibits still in place and wonder around them again at our own leisure. One of my favourites exhibits at the Museum of Science and Industry is Baby, the world’s very first computer! As a blogger and all-things-digital gal myself, it is incredible to see where computers began and really brings home how much technology has advanced over the past century.

I arrived at around 7ish and by that time the Revolution Manchester Gallery was already full! There were tons of people there, which made for a really great atmosphere and making it possibly the busiest event I’ve ever been to. We were greeted with a series of four different speeches from various stakeholders of Manchester Science Festival 2015, including sponsors and spokespeople. There was perhaps one speech too many, but my favourite had to be by the highly engaging Professor Danielle George of the University of Manchester (who also brought on a very cute little girl called Kirsty, dressed as a astronaut!) who presented a lovely film all about Manchester Science Festival 2015. She was also the mastermind behind the really amusing launch of Manchester’s first robot orchestra, which she built with help from the community from old bits and pieces of tech!

Other activities on the night included scientific taste tests, such as trying the weirdest combinations of foods that Twitter followers had suggest – here’s a tip, don’t ever try chocolate milk and ready salted crisps mixed together. There was also a really interesting set up that encouraged guests to try three types canapes – all with the same ingredients yet presented totally differently. This was to show how we often taste with our eyes and use all our sense, which I found to be really interesting and something a bit different. Not sure if I’m sophisticated enough to eat oysters on the regular, though!

Also taking centre stage was gastronaut Stefan Gates, a food writer, chef and TV presenter who put on a captivating live cookery show, creating a whole host of unusual food combinations with a lot of audience interaction. Part of this included the unveiling of a ‘flavour dispersal device’; a huge canon that blasted our scents into the audience to allow us to ‘taste’ flavours just through smell alone.

Finally, guests were asked to make their own ‘science promise’ for sharing science knowledge and encouraging learning in 2016 as Manchester becomes the European City of Science 2016. I promised to share news about all the great science events happening in Manchester (here’s one ticked off the list!). The night left me feeling really inspired by a whole host of fantastic scientists, many of which are women, and hopefully by sharing the launch of MSI 2015 with y’all, it can help inspire one or two of you as well.