Cambridge Festival launches programme for 2022
Cambridge Festival has unveiled its 2022 programme, and bookings open later this month for more than 350 events.
Political crises, the past, present and future of eastern world orders, the outlook for feminism, new technologies and treatments for a range of diseases, and the state of our natural world top the bill at this year’s festival.
The festival, supported by the Cambridge Independent and run by the University of Cambridge, launches its full programme on Monday, February 28, for the series of free events taking place between March 31 and April 10.
Following a hugely successful inaugural year in 2021 – which saw more than 100,000 online global views during the 10-day festival – the Cambridge Festival 2022 returns as a hybrid event, hosting more than 350 in-person and online events that can be viewed by anyone, anywhere in the world – almost all of them free of charge.
Cambridge festival manager David Cain said: “We are absolutely delighted to be back in person this year with a programme that covers the full spectrum of what it means to be human in the 21st century.
“We’re also excited to be able to present a festival that combines both our new online event format as well as the chance to meet researchers in person again.
“Alongside all the events sharing the latest innovative research here in Cambridge, there are performances, comedy, art exhibitions and so much more. A few of my personal highlights include the Manga workshops; a talk about John Davis’ new book, Waterloo Sunset, which is due out in March and is all about London in the swinging 60s and 70s; a fascinating comparison between plague poetry in the 14th and 21st century; and a playful trip through the online disinformation maze with Hugo Leal from the Minderoo Centre. I can’t wait.”
Prominent figures and experts in the world of current affairs, science, arts, and culture are speaking at this year’s festival.
They include author Jeannette Winterson, astronomer Royal, professor Lord Martin Rees, former head of news and current affairs at Channel 4 and president of Murray Edwards College, Dorothy Byrne, chief foreign affairs commentator at the Financial Times Gideon Rachman and geneticist, obesity researcher and broadcaster, Dr Giles Yeo.
Also appearing are behavioural science lead at the cabinet office, Dr Moira Nicolson, virologist and broadcaster Dr Chris Smith and professor of politics David Runciman.
Divided into four key themes: society, health, environment and discovery, the programme includes debates, talks, exhibitions, lab tours, workshops, films, and performances.
The aim is to present new ideas, cutting-edge research and historical insight into the issues that affect all of us. There are also hundreds of interactive events geared towards children, young people, and families.
View the full programme from February 28 at festival.cam.ac.uk. Bookings open on the same day from 10am.
