Festival of Nature

Last updated

Festival of Nature
Location(s) Bristol, Bath
Years active2003 – present
Organised byThe Natural History Consortium
Website www.festivalofnature.org.uk

The Festival of Nature is an annual science festival in the UK which describes itself as the UK's largest free celebration of the natural world. The festival takes place in June across Bristol, and Bath. Featuring events, including lectures, tours and film screenings on subjects of science, natural history and the environment.

The festival, run by Natural History Consortium, has taken place across the region since 2003.

Historically, the festival has held events at, We The Curious, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol Zoo, the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England, though there are many other events across the cities, such as at Blaise Castle Estate and Leigh Woods National Nature Reserve.

Notable past speakers include broadcasters David Attenborough and David Bellamy, geneticist Steve Jones and primatologist Jane Goodall.

The Natural History Consortium also organises 'Communicate', a conference of scientists, environmentalists, broadcasters and journalists, who meet to discuss the issue of communicating conservation issues to the public, as well at the UK's BioBlitz network.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Attenborough</span> British broadcaster and naturalist (born 1926)

Sir David Frederick Attenborough is a British broadcaster, biologist, natural historian, and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature documentary series forming the Life collection, a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World of Music, Arts and Dance</span> International arts festival

WOMAD is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance.

The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, and has a long association with David Attenborough's authored documentaries, starting with 1979's Life on Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BioBlitz</span> Biological surveying event

A BioBlitz, also written without capitals as bioblitz, is an intense period of biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within a designated area. Groups of scientists, naturalists, and volunteers conduct an intensive field study over a continuous time period. There is a public component to many BioBlitzes, with the goal of getting the public interested in biodiversity. To encourage more public participation, these BioBlitzes are often held in urban parks or nature reserves close to cities. Research into the best practices for a successful BioBlitz has found that collaboration with local natural history museums can improve public participation. As well, BioBlitzes have been shown to be a successful tool in teaching post-secondary students about biodiversity.

<i>Natural World</i> (TV series) 1983 British TV series or programme

Natural World was a strand of British wildlife documentary series broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Two HD and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history series. It was the longest-running documentary series in its genre on British television, with nearly 500 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World episodes were typically films that take an in-depth look at particular natural history events, stories or subjects from around the globe.

Wildscreen is a wildlife conservation charity based in Bristol, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Nightingale</span>

Neil Nightingale is a British freelance wildlife filmmaker, executive producer and creative consultant with over 35 years experience at the BBC. From 2009 to 2018 he was the creative director of BBC Earth, BBC Worldwide's global brand for all BBC nature and science content.

.

<i>Natures Great Events</i> BBC wildlife documentary television series

Nature's Great Events is a wildlife documentary series made for BBC television, first shown in the UK on BBC One and BBC HD in February 2009. The series looks at how seasonal changes powered by the sun cause shifting weather patterns and ocean currents, which in turn create the conditions for some of the planet's most spectacular wildlife events. Each episode focuses on the challenges and opportunities these changes present to a few key species.

Cheltenham Science Festival is one of the UK's leading science festivals, and is part of Cheltenham Festivals: also responsible for the Jazz, Music and Literature Festivals that run every year.

Christopher Eugene Parsons OBE was an English wildlife film-maker and the executive producer of David Attenborough's Life on Earth nature documentary. As a founding member and a former Head of the BBC Natural History Unit, he worked on many of its early productions and published a history of its first 25 years in 1982. Besides television, he was also passionate about projects which helped to bring an understanding of the natural world to a wider audience, notably the Wildscreen Festival and ARKive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Poore</span> British independent musician (born 1966)

David Nicholas Poore is a British independent musician, who has composed and produced music for over 200 films by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Disney, PBS, National Geographic, RTÉ and other broadcasters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Festival of Ideas</span> Annual UK discussion and debate event

The Bristol Festival of Ideas is a project established in Bristol, England, which aims "to stimulate people’s minds and passions with an inspiring programme of discussion and debate". It was first set up in 2005, as part of the city's ultimately unsuccessful bid to become the European Capital of Culture for 2008, and continues to maintain a programme of debates and other events, including an annual festival each May.

Keith Scholey is a British producer of nature documentaries for television and cinema, and a former television executive. He is currently a joint Director of Silverback Films Ltd and Studio Silverback Ltd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Pride</span> Annual LGBT festival in Bristol, England

Bristol Pride is an annual festival in the city of Bristol, championing equality and diversity across South West England. Since 2010, the Bristol Pride festival has been organised by the charity 'Bristol Pride'. The festival is a fortnight of events in the city, and concludes with Pride Day on the second Saturday of July. Festival events include a mix of talks by prominent local activists and charities, screenings of LGBT films, performances, and various evenings of entertainment led by local drag artists. Pride Day includes the traditional Pride March, which begins in the city's Castle Park and ends at the Amphitheatre on the harbourside. Bristol Pride remains a free-to-attend festival, but encourages entry to the events by donation to enable the festival to continue.

<i>Life Story</i> (TV series) 2014 British TV series or programme

Life Story is a British natural-history television series co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, Discovery Channel and France Télévisions in association with The Open University. The six-part series, narrated by David Attenborough, reveals the challenges faced by individual animals at different stages of their lives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Hector</span> BBC television producer

Julian Hector is a British television and radio producer and executive who was Head of the BBC Natural History Unit. During his career, he has been producer of David Attenborough's Life Stories on BBC Radio 4, producer of the Tigers about the House television series, writer and producer of the Lakes and Rivers episode in the BBC’s Wild Africa series, producer of World on the Move, and instrumental in establishing the BBC's Tweet of the Day. He was described by Sir David Attenborough as ‘one of the most inventive producers in radio’ and during his award of an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol was credited with bringing ‘live natural history programming to Radio 4’.

<i>Trees A Crowd</i> Natural history podcast

Trees A Crowd is a natural history podcast presented by actor David Oakes.

Since 1934, Bristol has been the home of radio programmes transmitted throughout the UK and the world via BBC World Service. The BBC Radio & Music Production unit operates separately from the BBC Radio Bristol, which serves listeners in and around the city. The network production team makes programs for the UK and a global audience. The genre focus in Bristol includes a wide range of topics, such as food and farming, environmental journalism, natural history, investigative documentaries, human interest, Bristol R&M Production readings, drama, poetry, conversation, and political debates. In 2017, the team in Bristol began producing podcasts for the BBC. It has been located in Broadcasting House, Bristol since 1934, which is also home to the BBC Natural History Unit, BBC West, and BBC Radio Bristol, in addition to BBC Network Radio Bristol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Colwell</span> Environmentalist and producer and author

Mary Colwell is an English environmentalist author and producer. She previously worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. She is founder and director of the charity Curlew Action and Chair of the Curlew Recovery Partnership England, a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs initiated roundtable dedicated to reversing the decline of the Eurasian Curlew.

References