Over 20,000 people are expected to attend University College Dublin’s Belfield campus this weekend for the annual UCD Festival. Described as a major celebration of arts, science and innovation, this year's event will take place on Saturday, June 11th and will include masterclasses, talks, interactive exhibits, family activities and tours. All events are free for the public to attend but registration for some events is required. The festival's flagship event will be a talk with astronaut Chris Hadfield in conversation with Dr Niamh Shaw.
There will be pop-up performances, historical re-enactments, poetry readings and tours at various locations throughout the campus. The festival will host a number of specially curated cultural events throughout the day including a masterclass in writing for stage and screen with director Mark O’Halloran and talks featuring various authors including Sara Baume, Audrey Magee, Aingeala Flannery and broadcaster Rick O’Shea. There will be opportunities to meet experts in the fields of 3D Printing and Artificial Intelligence including a talk with Laurence Moroney the Artificial Intelligence Advocacy lead at Google. Children will have the opportunity to engage with hands-on experiments and be part of demonstrations at the Medtronic junior-hospital experience. Elsewhere, attendees can meet Pepper the Robot, the world’s first social humanoid robot with the ability to recognise faces and basic human emotions. The festival will include various food options, a family fun zone and bbq area with live Djs.
Now in its 7th year, The UCD Festival has become the university’s flagship public engagement event and is unique among Irish third level institutions. Speaking ahead of the event the festival’s organiser Sheila Morris is inviting members of the public to come and be inspired:
“From talks on culture and tours of ancient artifacts to hands-on experiments in science and demonstrations in the latest emerging technologies. This year’s UCD festival is a unique opportunity to get behind the scenes access to one of the world’s leading universities. The event is free and open to all ages, there is something to inspire everyone.”
The UCD Festival will take place on Saturday, 11 June from 12-6 pm. All events are free but booking may be required for some events.
UCD is served by 11, 39a, 46a, 47, 145 and 155 bus routes and is located within walking distance of Sydney Parade train station.
For more information visit: www.ucd.ie/festival
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