The Power of Volunteers

For several years, Cardiff was without a science festival. A group of dedicated volunteers decided to bring a festival back to Wales’ capital. During Spring half-term 2019, STEM events could be found across the city, bringing science to the people of Cardiff, giving them something new, somewhere new and by someone new.

The festival reached a new scale, with over 10,000 attending the 34 events held across the city. The festival was a huge success and highlighted the desire and need for a permanent annual science festival in Cardiff, to match those in other cities across the world.

The vision for Cardiff Science Festival for 2019 was inspired by the concept of guerilla festivals, setting up a plethora of science events across the capital city, bringing unexpected science to unexpected places. The festival brought together some of the greatest scientific minds and science communicators that Wales has to offer, and gave them a space in Cardiff to share something inspiring; from the pubs to the cafes of Cardiff, from the parks to the shopping centres of the city, something new and exciting could be stumbled across.

This being the first year of its resurgence, the success of the festival was outstanding. Through the power of volunteers and passionate science communicators, the city of Cardiff was painted orange with tonnes of interesting, educational and inspirational STEM activities.