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Festival of Nature

Schools’ Day, Friday 17 June; Public days 18–19 June at Bristol Harbourside

The biggest event of its kind in the UK, the Festival of Nature gives wildlife enthusiasts of all ages the opportunity to explore, enjoy and get close to the natural world – all free of charge. The Festival has just been awarded ‘Bristol Event of the Year’ in the 2011Bristol Tourism and Hospitality Awards, after a tight race with finalists including the Balloon Fiesta.

Clifton College are Schools’ Day sponsor for the second year running, presenting an exciting programme on the theme of Colour for KS2 children from local schools. Over 15 other prestigious and well-respected organisations took part including the BBC, Bristol Zoo Gardens, Avon Wildlife and the University of Bristol who all ran fun and interactive workshops

Clifton’s science department produced a spectacular Schools’ Day show on the physics of colour, some colourful chemistry and the biology of colour vision and optical illusions, to engage with their young audience, to many sounds of ‘wow, ooh and ahh’ along the way.

Teachers from all three schools at Clifton then join forces over the weekend for a Colourful Creatures exhibition in the Clifton tent. Showing how colour is made, seen and used in the animal kingdom, there were hands-on butterflies and bird feathers under the microscope, spot the animals in camouflage, some friendly stick insects to hold, various videos to watch, colouring-in and face painting – something for everyone in the family.

Also on show was a life-size baby gorilla from the Wow! Gorillas public art event run by Bristol Zoo Gardens. ‘Baby’ was won on the merits of ‘best design’ by a Clifton College Y9 pupil and was shown alongside photographs of Mariya and friends transferring her winning design from paper to the beautiful sculpture.

Enjoy a short video and a gallery of pictures from the festival.

13 July 2011

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