The annual Festival of Communities provides two action-packed days of fun for people of all ages, showcasing exciting research and offering lots of entertainment in a celebration of East London.
Hosted by Queen Mary University of London and Tower Hamlets community groups and organisations, the festival allows visitors to engage with the latest research through games, sports, crafts and other family-friendly activities and events.
This year’s festival takes place on Saturday 10 June and Sunday 11 June, with no charge to attend. Saturday’s activities are held in Stepney Green Park. On Sunday the festival moves to Queen Mary’s Mile End campus.
There are over 101 things to do and endless opportunities for people to get involved with some of the most innovative research happening at Queen Mary and local organisations and services in Tower Hamlets. Some of the exciting activities include:
Hands-on play with dinosaur casts and fossils
Creating your own at home chemistry lab
Learning cancer research techniques and extracting DNA from fruit
Going up against a robot at Tic Tac Toe
Testing your wits against a chicken
Visitors can also try their hand at pizza-making, thai boxing, building a solar-powered wooden car, or play several games about Bengali language and culture.
Some of the groups from Tower Hamlets exhibiting at the Festival of Communities this year include the Ocean Regeneration Trust, Social Action for Health, and Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham.
Sarah Gifford, Community Engagement Manager at Queen Mary, said: “We’ve worked hard to make this year’s activities better than ever and are looking forward to seeing so many people from across the borough coming together for fun activities, experiments, demonstrations, and storytelling.
“Last year was our most successful event ever with 8,000 local residents attending over the two days. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us all to build connections and for people to try something new.”
