Chelmsford Science Festival runs 20 to 28 October: 29 of its 38 events are free. Big Manny and Dallas Campbell can now be watched online too, £10 each.
Chelmsford Science Festival returns from Tuesday 20 to Wednesday 28 October with 38 events listed, and the number worth knowing before you plan anything is this: 29 of them are free.
Updated 30 September: Anglia Ruskin has raised David Olusoga’s Future Britain talk to £15 adults and £7.50 students, with a drink on arrival and an 18+ age limit, and has taken Listen to the Universe off the programme, so the festival now lists 34 events, not 35.
Updated 7 October: the university’s listing is back to 35 entries, 28 of them free. The newest is a listing of its own for Playable Worlds, the free gaming and digital strand that runs across Chelmsford from 1 to 31 October. No event shows as sold out or cancelled.
Updated 14 October: the listing has grown to 38 events, 29 free. Anglia Ruskin has added online tickets for two of the paid talks, Dallas Campbell’s Space Journal (20 October, online version 6.30pm to 7.30pm) and Big Manny’s Science is Lit (22 October, 6.30pm to 7.30pm), at the same £10, £5 for students, under 16s free. The new free event is Focus on Sickle Cell Disorder, online, Monday 26 October, 3pm to 4pm. Still nothing sold out or cancelled.
The festival is run by Anglia Ruskin University with Chelmsford City Council and Chelmsford For You, sponsored by Teledyne. The council says it is now in its fifth year. This year’s theme is “Future Worlds: Earth, Space, You” (Chelmsford City Council).
The free weekend for families
The Family Science Weekend is on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October, 10.30am to 4pm, on the university’s Chelmsford campus. It is free on both days, with hands-on experiments, live shows and the chance to meet working scientists. Shows are free but need booking in advance.
There is a relaxed SEN hour from 9.30am to 10.30am on each of the two days, a quieter session before the main day opens, also free (Anglia Ruskin University).
Other free events pitched at families include Groove on the Moon, a space adventure with live music and animation on 26 October, Babies Laugh Out Loud for babies up to 18 months on 23 October, and Build a Mini Eco-House on 24 October.
The seven you have to pay for
Every other event on the programme is free. These are the exceptions, with the prices and venues Anglia Ruskin publishes on its own listings:
| Event | When | Where | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Space Journal, with Dallas Campbell | 20 Oct, 6.30pm to 8.30pm | Chelmsford campus | £10 adults, £5 students, under 16s free |
| Science is Lit, with Big Manny | 22 Oct, 6.30pm to 7.30pm | Chelmsford campus | £10 adults, £5 students, under 16s free |
| Rap Science: Our Space Environment | 24 Oct, 4.30pm to 5.30pm | Chelmsford campus | £6 adults, under 16s free |
| Sustainable Futures, with Chris Packham | 24 Oct, 6.30pm to 7.30pm | Chelmsford campus | £10 adults, £5 students, under 16s free |
| The Science of Harry Potter | 26 Oct, 6.30pm to 7.30pm | Chelmsford campus | £10 adults, £5 students, under 16s free |
| Future Britain, with David Olusoga | 27 Oct, 7.15pm to 9pm | Chelmsford Cathedral | £15 adults, £7.50 students, ages 18+, drink included |
| Brainiac Live | 28 Oct, 11.30am to 2pm | Chelmsford Theatre, Fairfield Road, CM1 1JG | From £20 |
Space Journal and Science is Lit can also be watched online, at the same prices, booked through the same pages (Space Journal online, Science is Lit online). Anglia Ruskin lists those as two extra events, which is why the festival’s count of ticketed listings is now nine.
The university says the ticket money is what pays for the free programme. Its wording is that paid events “help expand free science experiences across Chelmsford” and bring national names “to the city at affordable prices”, that 10% of tickets are reserved for people facing financial, social or access barriers, allocated through community partners, and that any surplus goes back into the festival.
One date does not match
Check the date for Dallas Campbell before you book. The council’s announcement puts his talk on 22 October. Anglia Ruskin’s own event page puts it on 20 October, 6.30pm to 8.30pm. The university is the organiser and its listing is the one that carries the booking, so that is the date we would use, but the two sources disagree and we have not been able to get that resolved.
The talk includes a wearable replica of Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit, which the university describes as the only replica of its kind in the UK.
It starts before it starts
Three schools days run before the public festival opens, all free and all booked through schools rather than by families:
- Wednesday 14 October, Year 12 Students Day, 9.30am to 3.15pm
- Thursday 15 October, Year 10 Students Day, 9.30am to 3.15pm
- Wednesday 21 October, Year 9 Students Day at the university’s Writtle campus, 9.30am to 3.15pm
A Playable Worlds Careers Experience Day for Years 9 to 11 runs on 21 October. Playable Worlds is new this year, a fringe strand on gaming, creative technology and digital careers.
The rest of the free programme
A sample of what is on, all free unless the table above says otherwise:
- Moonshot Fitness, 20 October, on what Moon missions reveal about muscle and bone health
- The Power of Voice, 21 October, Professor Silke Paulmann on what your voice gives away
- The Science of Menopause, 23 October, a workshop on movement, strength and nutrition
- Ice Age Essex, 26 October, geologists Ian and Ros Mercer on the county’s ice age
- The Mind of a Crow, 28 October, on how corvids learn and solve problems
- Future Beats, 27 October, on whether a computer could be the next superstar DJ
- Focus on Sickle Cell Disorder, 26 October, 3pm to 4pm, online (Anglia Ruskin)
What it means for you
- The two best-value days are Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October, free, 10.30am to 4pm, on the Chelmsford campus, with an SEN hour first thing on both
- Book the free shows anyway. The university says spaces for the live shows must be booked in advance
- Under 16s go free at five of the seven ticketed events, so a parent and child at Chris Packham is £10, not £20. David Olusoga is adults only
- Two events are off campus: David Olusoga at Chelmsford Cathedral and Brainiac Live at Chelmsford Theatre on Fairfield Road
- The full programme and booking are at aru.ac.uk/events/chelmsford-science-festival
If you are driving in for the weekend days, the city centre car parks and the park and ride are the usual choices, and our guides below have the tariffs.
More Chelmsford local information
- Things to do in Chelmsford: and where to park for each of them.
- Parking in Chelmsford: every car park, tariff and permit.
- Chelmsford roadworks and travel: what is shut, and the park and ride fares.
- Chelmsford trains to London: times, fares and the last train home.
Sources
- Chelmsford City Council: Explore our universe at this year’s Chelmsford Science Festival, 18 September 2026 for the 20 to 28 October dates, the “Future Worlds: Earth, Space, You” theme, the fifth year, the partnership with Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford City Council and Chelmsford For You, the Teledyne sponsorship, the speaker line-up and the SEN hours.
- Anglia Ruskin University: Chelmsford Science Festival, all listing pages read 19 September, 30 September, 7 October and 14 October 2026, for the count of events (35 on 19 September, 34 on 30 September after Listen to the Universe was withdrawn, 35 again on 7 October with the Playable Worlds listing, 38 on 14 October with two online versions and Focus on Sickle Cell Disorder; all 38 detail pages read 14 October), every date and time, every price, the free-versus-ticketed split, the 10% of tickets reserved through community partners and the statement that ticket income funds the free programme.
- Anglia Ruskin’s individual event pages, read 19 September 2026, for the venues: Family Science Day, Saturday, Space Journal, Sustainable Futures with Chris Packham, Future Britain (re-read 30 September 2026 for the £15 and £7.50 prices, the 18+ age limit and the drink on arrival) and Brainiac Live. The Space Journal page is also the source for the 20 October date that differs from the council’s announcement, and for the Apollo 11 spacesuit replica.
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