The University of Warwick’s Resonate Summer Festival offers visitors the opportunity to get curious and creative - for free! - late next month. With performances, crafts and much more on offer, the festival showcases the University’s research through interactive activities and demonstrations suitable for all ages. Kerry Baker, associate director of Warwick Institute of Engagement, chatted to What’s On about what’s in store at this year’s get-together...

Resonate Summer Festival makes a welcome return at the University of Warwick late next month, with staff and students facilitating a free-to-attend, hands-on day of interactive activities, exciting performances and fascinating demonstrations for people of all ages to enjoy.

Resonate is the title of the University’s public events programme. Its aim is to provide  interested members of the public with an insight into the work of the University. The annual festival, taking place on a single day, offers visitors the chance to get involved in an inclusive, family-friendly way.

“The Summer Festival is designed for everyone,” explains Kerry Baker, associate director of Warwick Institute of Engagement. “It has quite a strong family focus, whatever your family makeup is, and it’s designed for people of all ages to get hands-on with different topics and different ideas.”

At last year’s festival, visitors could learn about everything from pottery to archiving, and from maths crafts to multilingual storytime, with staff and students from different departments invited to share their research.

“The festival itself is designed to be very ‘young person’-friendly,” says Kerry, “so we get a lot of families coming. [This year] we’ve added extra under-fives programming. It’s a lovely day out and a great way to keep your young people entertained, but we also work with and support the academics - the researchers, teachers, staff and students - to have those engagements in a way that allows everyone to benefit. The adults who come along also get to participate, ask questions and find out new stuff.”

The festival’s events and activities take place in three neighbouring buildings on the University campus - Warwick Arts Centre, The Oculus and the Faculty of Arts building.

“We have exciting drop in activities, games and workshops spread out over campus” says Kerry. “The physics team have a load of things that are happening, [including] ice cutting with diamonds… We’ll have a whole host of activities from the School of Modern Languages & Cultures including bookmark making.”

Resonate also collaborates with other Midlands-based organisations to bring a variety of entertainment to the festival. “We’re working with an external organisation called House of MASH, who are developing a bespoke show based on research undertaken at the University - a mix of nature, science and engineering. They’ve been involved in Resonate Festival from the start.”

For the first time, the festival will also distribute activity books to visitors, with a digital version available for those who can’t make it on the day.

“The Resonate Activity Book is going to be crosswords, puzzles, ‘break the code’ and ‘spot the difference’-type activities, all related to research at the University. It will be given away for free to anyone who comes to the festival. It’s just another way for people to interact with the research.”

Kerry’s involvement in the festival begins long in advance of the day itself, but she also takes a hands-on role to make sure everything runs smoothly - which means she gets to see visitors enjoy the festival.

“Every festival, I’m a roadie. I’m moving kit, I’m doing the physical labour - and it means that I get to chat to people. We always have a quiet space with books, colouring in, things like that, so if someone feels overwhelmed, they know exactly where that room is. I remember being at one festival where a parent came up to us - their child got really anxious with crowds, but the quiet room made all the difference. They hung out in the quiet room and really appreciated that there was a staff member in there as well - so they still felt like they were having an engaged experience.”

The festival also partners with Eatwise, the University’s on-campus food provider, which offers tasty snacks and drinks for visitors.

“Eatwise make everything fresh, on campus. They make it from carefully sourced, seasonal ingredients. Everyone who comes gets a voucher. They can go and get an ice cream from the ice cream van, or visit the Eatwise street food van for a drink and some food - and that’s free. It’s not a whole lunch, but it’s enough to keep you going, and people are welcome to bring their own food. We get a lot of commentary about what a safe space it is, what an inclusive space it is, and all of that is really down to my team, who put so much effort into every tiny little decision.”

The Summer Festival is a big day in Resonate’s calendar, with staff, researchers and students mucking in and volunteering their time, expertise and resources to ensure that there’s plenty in store for all the festival’s attendees. But it’s also a valuable experience for those at the University.

“[The University volunteers] come back more and more. They really enjoy that opportunity to engage with members of the public who have an interest in their subject - or don’t know anything about the subject but want to find out more.

“It feels like we’ve created something that’s wanted and something that’s needed - it’s just a day of positivity.”

To book tickets, read about last year’s events, and explore the Resonate calendar, visit the website (see below) and make a commitment to unleashing your curiosity. Who knows what you’ll discover?

Resonate Summer Festival takes place on Saturday 30 May at the University of Warwick. To find out more, visit the website at resonatefestival.co.uk

By Jessica Clixby