Read the Festival evaluation here

Since its inception in 1831, the British Science Festival has continually evolved to engage audiences with the  latest scientific discoveries. Each year, the Festival is re-invented as we work in a different city with new partners, communities and audiences. Remaining constant throughout the changes, are the BSA’s founding principles “to bring together a more diverse range of views and opinions” and “to create better access to science for more people”. For BSF25, in Liverpool, we focused on embedding community engagement and cultural collaborations throughout the Festival programme to drive our innovative approach to science engagement and to attract underrepresented audiences.

The 2025 British Science Festival was hosted by Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool from 10-14 September. With the support of our Festival Partners, Astra Zeneca and Liverpool BID Company, we presented 114 events and installations, delivered by over 230 people across 16 central venues, shining a spotlight on the transformative research and innovation taking place in the Liverpool City Region and beyond.

Our vibrant programme spanned a wide spectrum of scientific exploration, from space and sport sciences to health and wellbeing, and cutting-edge technology. This year’s programme contained a greater proportion of local and regional representation from community groups and organisations than any previous British Science Festival.

Liverpool’s legacy as the European City of Culture in 2008 provided a strong eco-system of collaboration and cooperation. We collaborated with 32 local  organisations to run ambitious events that explored the history, social impact and future of science across Liverpool. The Festival team were also able to build strong partnerships with leading arts and culture organisations including Culture Liverpool, Liverpool Biennial, FACT and the Bluecoat Gallery of Contemporary Art. These mutually beneficial relationships brought opportunities for new co-commissions, gave the Festival access to culturally engaged audiences and brought scientific ideas to creative programmes. Equally, we worked closely with a variety of iconic venues across the city, including the Museum of Liverpool, the Black-E, and Liverpool ONE to bring science to their spaces and audiences.

For the first time, we ran a ‘Satellite’ programme which used the Festival’s significant reach and influence to signpost to events and activities run by partners in the region, independently of the Festival . The Satellite programme aimed to contribute towards a legacy of science engagement activity across the city. The British Science Association’s mission is to make science more relevant, representative and connected to society and the following evaluation demonstrates that the British Science Festival is a key driver in engaging new and diverse audiences, pioneering best practice and building a science engagement ecosystem which can continue to put science and research at the heart of culture.

Read the full Festival evaluation here

We look forward to welcoming you all the British Science Festival 2026 in Southampton.