The Cambridge Festival is a mixture of online, on-demand and in-person events covering all aspects of the world-leading research happening at Cambridge.
More than 350 events – the majority of which are free – spanning talks, debates, performances, exhibitions, hands-on activities, and immersive experiences will bring together leading academics, writers, artists and public figures to explore how the world is changing, and what those changes demand of us.
The programme is further enriched with over 45 events from Anglia Ruskin University, alongside support from festival sponsor AstraZeneca, which is also running several events.
High-profile speakers this year include broadcaster and campaigner Carol Vorderman, former Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees, Stanford climate scientist Mark Z Jacobson, obesity researcher Giles Yeo, historian and filmmaker Malik Al Nasir, former home secretary Charles Clarke, and award-winning geneticist, broadcaster and author Dr Adam Rutherford.
Events interrogate the nature of truth in the digital age, the power and limits of artificial intelligence, the politics of health and data, the legacies of empire and racism, and competing visions for responding to a warming planet. While the United States looms large, from debates over scientific freedom and health research to questions of global influence, the focus is resolutely international, asking how societies across the world respond to instability, polarisation and rapid technological change.
The festival concludes by looking beyond the present moment. In The World in 2050 and Far Beyond, Lord Martin Rees reflects on humanity’s long-term prospects, from existential risks to the responsibilities that come with scientific power. It is a fitting note for a programme that repeatedly asks not only what might happen next, but what choices we make now.
The Cambridge Festival runs from 16th March – 2nd April.
