The 2026 Cavendish Festival will take place from 10:00-16:00 on Saturday 21st March. Tickets for the booked events will open soon. The hands-on activities and demonstrations are drop-in sessions, and will be unticketed.
Activities are also available as part of our "Make-and-do at Home" collection.
Talks and Shows
All take place in the Ray Dolby Auditorium. Logistical issues have meant that bookings for the Planetarium and Escape Room are pending, please revisit this page to
Title |
Time |
Description |
Book Here |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Physical History of a Lightbulb | 10:30 | In 1848 Michael Faraday gave a famous series of demonstration lectures called the chemical history of a candle. Lighting has moved on a lot in 178 years, so we thought it could do with updating. This demo filled lecture involves fire, sparks, and much more. | Book here |
| The Discovery Factory - 150 Years of the Cavendish Laboratory | 12:00 | The Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge was the site of many of the biggest scientific breakthroughs in history. Within its walls atoms were split, subatomic particles uncovered and the structure of DNA unraveled, discoveries that reshaped both science and the world around us. In this demonstration-packed talk, Cavendish physicist, author and science presenter Dr Harry Cliff will take you on a tour of Cavendish’s biggest discoveries, recreating some of the historic experiments and exploring the dramatic impact they had on science and the course of history. | Book here |
| Hunting the Higgs | 13:30 |
What if you could go head-to-head with the scientists of CERN and beat them to a particle discovery? Step into real experiments, team up with friends or total-strangers, analyse data from cutting-edge detectors and race against real-life CERN scientists to spot the signals that could change what we know about the universe. No lab coat required – just your curiosity, instinct, and a sharp eye for the unexpected. Do bring a smart device though! The discovery of the Higgs Boson was one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of the century, but could you have discovered it for yourself? In a series of fast paced, exciting and innovative games, you'll get the chance to find out and see if you have what it takes to control the infamous Large Hadron Collider and become a cutting edge particle physicist! Expect physical, mental and app based games, explosions, particle collisions, jokes and more! Do you have what it takes to Hunt The Higgs? |
Book here |
| Electric Jet Engines and Cricket Ball Swing | 15:00 | For the last 50 years, the Whittle Laboratory in Cambridge has helped to develop the efficient, reliable and safe power generation and aircraft propulsion systems we take for granted today. The next great challenge is to deliver zero carbon power and propulsion and we are working hard to deliver the technologies needed to make this step. Dr Sam Grimshaw's talk will explain the potential and address some of the challenges associated with using zero emission, "Electric Jet Engines", for flight.
The Whittle Lab has a long history of investigating sports aerodynamics. In the second half of the talk, we will see how the science used to design and test jet engines has been used to understand the mysterious art of swing bowling in cricket. |
Book here |
Booked Activities
Activity |
Times |
Details |
Book Here |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planetarium | 10:00, 11:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00 |
Mark Rutherford School's travelling planetarium will be set up for talks around astronomy; beginning with The Tour of the Solar System. The Tour of the Solar System is a live presentation. Visit most of the astronomical objects in the Solar system from the Sun out to approximately where Voyager 2 is. At the end of this show it is intended to turn off all light sources to get the dome as dark as possible. The presenter may add other short shows. |
Book here |
Drop-in Activities
All activities available throughout the afternoon, no booking required.
Title |
Description |
Location |
Image |
| Isaac Physics Drop-in Session | Come and find out about Isaac Physics, a FREE online learning platform for secondary students and their teachers. There are resources for Years 7 through to University in Physics, from GCSE to university in Maths, and for Sixth Form in Chemistry and Biology. The Isaac Physics team will be selling their printed books for £1.50 (cost price). These books are designed to strengthen the foundations and prepare the students for the next step in their educational journey. | RDC Atrium | |
| Make-and-do | Try your hand at solving some physics challenges in these family-friendly, hands-on activities | Seminar East and West | |
| Researcher and Student Demonstrations | See some fundamental physics demonstrated in exciting, visual ways, and talk to researchers from the lab about their work. | Seminar East and West |
Make-and-Do at Home
Alongside our entry into 2021's Festival Zine, we adapted some of our previous make-and-do activities to use common household items.
