Festival of the Imagination: it's here!

The wait is over! For one weekend only, our Festival of the Imagination takes over campus - and the best bit? You’re invited! Head over to central campus for 4pm today to take advantage of the host of events, activities and entertainment on offer to celebrate our 50th anniversary.

Here’s just a taster of what you can enjoy…

Friday 16 October, 4pm - late

Start the weekend in style! From 4pm onwards, there’s a host of free and ticketed events for you to enjoy. Late afternoon you can choose from three free events:

• Our opening celebration - The Festival of the Imagination show
• Lost for Words, asking “What is the place of literature in our world of social media?”
• Universities Challenged: Where next for Higher Education? with a panel including our Vice-Chancellor, Sir Nigel Thrift

Or grab the last few tickets for evening sessions – award winning screenwriter Andrew Davies will be in conversation with alumnus Torin Douglas in a Writing Behind the Screen session at 5.45. Or why not join jazz musician Guy Barker and queen of improv comedy Josie Lawrence as they explore the art of improvising in the Life is Best when you Improvise session.

Or why not try your racing skills in a track driving simulation, learn why we need a nose and how different languages have formed in our free National Grid Discovery Zone? Based in the Butterworth Hall, the area will be transformed into a hive of activity and hands on experiences suitable for all ages!

And don’t forget to visit our Motor City beside The Koan, between 12pm-9pm. They’ll be an exciting line up of vehicles from the past, present and future, including a 1979 Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, a 1969 Hillman Imp from the Rootes Company and vintage Coventry-made cars, a 1950 Austin Gypsy Fire Appliance and the infamous Sinclair C5, along with a selection of Jaguar Land Rover cars.

Once you’ve enjoyed the range of activities in the Arts Centre, head over to our new plaza to enjoy some fantastic food and drink from our ever popular Farmers Market. Then wash it down with our Anniversary inspired cocktail ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ or ‘Hopping Grad’ – our celebratory beer.

Saturday 17 October 9.30am - late

The fun continues on Saturday - don’t miss our free family sessions: Robots for Real, Almost an Android and Life away from Planet Earth. There’s plenty more happening in our National Grid Discovery Zone too - find out how chocolate powered racing cars work, what life’s like in a freezer and how birds can help us write poetry!

Motor City beside The Koan, will be back between 9.30am and 7pm, so make sure the car enthusiasts in your family get to see the host of cars that were ahead of their time, icons of their day or associated with the University.

You can also enjoy free dance, sport and music in the Performance Marquee in Benefactors Place, plus a host of tasters, talks and demonstrations – there’s something for everyone. Why not join award winning chef Vivek Singh for a Spices Masterclass at 3.45pm or consider the Future of Media at 4.15pm in our interactive session with Warwick alumnus Torin Douglas and a distinguished panel including Peter Salmon, Head of BBC Studios.

Bookings can still be made at http://www.warwick.ac.uk/warwick50booking

We look forward to seeing you there!

Schools Outreach

As part of our festival of the Imagination we are today hosting a free school’s event for around 900 school pupils and their teachers.

The schools' day was offered to all schools in Coventry and Warwickshire and has been designed especially for year 6 pupils. We’ll be providing them with an opportunity to explore the National Grid Discovery Zone before anyone else, meet top academics from a broad range of disciplines and watch an interactive talk from our excellent outreach team.