Cruickshank Botanical Gardens played host to a bizarre tea party yesterday, marking the launch of next month’s TechFest In September festival.
From telescopes, bubbles and puffins to divers and doctors, the party involving several local youngsters, provided a taste of the upcoming festival.
Now in its 21st year, Techfest will include a variety of shows, workshops and exhibitions, with 20,000 expected to take part between September 6 and 26.
One of the main aims of the event, supported by BP and Shell, is to engage with young people in science, technology, engineering and maths and encourage them to follow a career using these skills.
Booking opens this week for a new public programme, which aims to entertain people of all ages with loud and energetic shows for children and thought-provoking lectures for adults.
Sarah Chew, managing director of TechFest, said: “We have introduced a number of new events this year and the public programme offers something for all different age groups and audiences, from the fun and light-hearted to high level presentations on topical subjects such as renewable energy and climate change.”
Dr Kevin Fong, of Channel 4’s Extreme A&E, will present the opening event on Saturday September 6, discussing human exploration and survival in extreme environments.
Other events to look forward to are an evening with The Gadget Show’s technology geek, Jason Bradbury and a night of murder mystery with award-winning author Ann Cleeves and local forensics expert, Dr James Grieve.
The following weekend there will be 35 hands-on workshops and demonstrations at the Beach Ballroom and Beach Leisure Centre.
As well as the public programme, around 10,000 pupils will attend a host of science, engineering and maths themed events for schools.