A weekend of science discovery across Wrexham town centre with inaugural ‘Darganfod / Discover’

Three days of science discovery will take place across Wrexham town centre this weekend – with the first event taking place tonight!

Organised by the volunteers of the British Science Association – North Wales branch and involving a unique collaboration of local organisations, ‘DARGANFOD//DISCOVER’ will be running from today Friday 26th to Sunday 28th October.

Featuring a mixture of day-time and evening events, the new festival aims to offer something for everyone, from children and families to amateurs and experts with interests in all aspects of the sciences.

‘DARGANFOD//DISCOVER’ kicks off tonight at the newly reopened Bank Street Social (on Bank Street in the town centre), with an exploration of physics, music and the relationship between the two with Dr John J Williamson (musician and soft matter physicist at the Francis Crick Institute).

Techniquest Glyndŵr is also one of the event’s delivery partners for the event, along with Tŷ Pawb, Undegun, Bank Street Social and the Wrexham Enterprise Hub, presenting a packed programme of events across the five venues for people of all ages visiting the town centre.

The organisation will be opening up their town centre venue in the old TJ Hughes building (Chester Street / Henblas Square) between 11am and 4.30pm on both the Saturday and Sunday.

At the venue there will be a special ‘Cancerquest’ interactive exhibition over the weekend. The roadshow, developed and presented by the Wales Cancer Partnership, is designed to spread awareness in a family friendly way about cancer and the research being carried out to combat it.

Visitors will be able to walk through and examine at close quarters a giant inflatable structure showing the inside of the human digestive tract whilst nearby various engaging hands-on activities will be available demonstrating the work being carried out by the Partnership to identify and treat cancer which explore the properties of DNA and cells.

There will also be a variety of hands-on family friendly science exhibits will be available for visitors to try, the cardboard construction zone will give free reign for children to build all sorts of imaginative structures, diddy car races will be run for different age groups and there will be a range of small local businesses will be setting up their stalls selling anything from craft items to hand made fudge.

An event titled ‘Digital Discoveries’ will take at the Wrexham Enterprise Hub (former Iceland building on Queens Square) tomorrow, with demonstrations of virtual reality with CEMET, computer coding and robot building with TQG’s TechZone team taking place between 9am and midday.

There will also be the chance to design your own computer games characters with the Game Art Staff and Students of Wrexham Glyndwr University.

Techniquest Glyndŵr’s TechZone team will be hard at work helping visitors to build robots and carry out computer coding as part of the drop-in event at the Wrexham Enterprise Hub – which also feature virtual reality from CEMET and computer game design with Wrexham Glyndŵr University.

Elsewhere in town, ‘Big Ideas’ will be at Tŷ Pawb featuring four short lectures from leaders in their fields sharing insights from the cutting edge of the sciences, accompanied by the NEW Sinfonia Quartet with music inspired by the heavens (5.30pm – 9.30pm, Saturday 27th).

Techniquest Glyndŵr will also be performing our family-friendly live science show ’10 of the Best’ at 2pm on Saturday in Tŷ Pawb’s performance space, featuring its most exciting and intriguing science demonstrations.

Saturday will close with a party at Undegun, where its resident artists will create a surreal world of scientifically inspired music, art and performance (8.00pm until late).

On Sunday 28th October there is a fantastic evening of astronomy planned at Tŷ Pawb from 4pm.

‘Big Universe’ will feature a fascinating talk from Martin Griffiths (Director of Brecon Observatory / ex-NASA) on the Celtic myths of the night sky, and Techniquest Glyndŵr will be delivering shows in our inflatable planetarium, as well as leading some live stargazing up on the roof of Tŷ Pawb.

Hannah Marubbi, Techniquest Glyndŵr projects coordinator commented: “All of us at Techniquest Glyndŵr are really excited to be involved in bringing this new science festival to Wrexham.

“There is a fantastic programme of events and activities planned for the weekend, with something to please everyone. A brilliant way to start the half term holiday!”

Mike Corcoran, a member of the Darganfod // Discover organising team, added: “We can’t wait to welcome visitors to DARGANFOD//DISCOVER in Wrexham.

“We’re all passionate about the sciences, and about the impact expanding your mind, questioning your beliefs and finding out about your world has both for people and for whole communities.

“We know many feel the same way, and we’re thrilled to be welcoming some fantastic speakers, presenters and performers to Wrexham, for what should be a great weekend.”

You can find out more on their website Darganfod-Discover.com, or give them a follow on twitter @DarganfodD or the full flyer below…