SMASHfestUK

Based in South East London, over half term, this free festival for all ages features comedy shows, music, film, experiments and theatre, to explore science, technology, engineering and maths through the arts and design.

Now in its second year, following an immensely successful debut in 2015, SMASHfestUK is back in Deptford, London this half term (18¬-20 February).

A free STEM/Arts festival, SMASHfestUK is created around a compelling story; a massive solar storm is forecast which wipes out our electrical and electronic infrastructure, throwing us back to the mechanical age: How will we cope without our phones, tablets and social media? How will we survive as our networks, power, transport, medical and supply chains collapse?

SMASHfestUK will take over the entire Albany theatre, including the performance spaces, cafe and garden. The programme includes a human power station, a geodesic dome full of giant ‘Maths’, comedians, poets and astronomers, human-sized mutant fruit flies, a premier of a new play written for the festival, the interactive Solar Storm Survival Unit, a variety show, electric paint, an Aardman animator, survival village building & survival skills, a pilot virtual reality experience and a Mutant Generation Unit.

There will also be events running all week at the Deptford Lounge library, including the SMASHfestUK planetarium, the Mechanical Mobile Phone Exoskeleton, a code-club, a solar exhibition, an artist's residency and a film programme, all themed around the imminent solar storm.

SMASHfestUK is a narrative-driven festival with a specific mission to widen participation and build diversity in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) through the Arts and design. We are funded by the Wellcome Trust, Arts Council England, the Science & Technology Facilities Council and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Our lead partner is Middlesex University and we are also partnered with The Refinery, University of Greenwich, GLYPT and the Royal Observatory. In November we partnered with the National Maritime Museum on their family Plague Takeover Day and in March we are facilitating events in three local schools for British Science Week.