The British Science Association (BSA) and the University of Southampton are pleased to announce that the British Science Festival for 2026 will take place in Southampton.

The Festival will be held over five days with events due to take place in venues across the city between September 16 and 20. The programme will feature roughly 100 free events, exhibitions, performances and installations that celebrate the people, stories and ideas at the heart of science.

Celebrating the 195th anniversary of the Festival, and working in partnership with the University, the BSA will bring its flagship event to the city of Southampton for the first time since 1992.

Hannah Russell, Chief Executive of the British Science Association, says:

“We’re delighted to be bringing the British Science Festival to Southampton in September 2026. The city has a long-established connection to engineering, discovery and endeavour, making it a perfect place to host our annual Festival. It is a great privilege for the BSA to be working alongside our partners at University of Southampton on this event, given the institution’s outstanding reputation for cutting edge research and innovation, and I feel confident that together we will develop an events programme you won’t want to miss.”

Founded in 1952 but with a history dating back to 1862, the University of Southampton combines academic excellence with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to research and knowledge exchange, supporting a culture that engages and challenges students and staff in their pursuit of learning.

The University is leading the development of trustworthy and secure artificial intelligence and is home to the UK’s first centre dedicated to cancer immunology research. Every time you use the internet, your mobile phone, or an ATM, you are using the optical fibre technology pioneered and developed at Southampton.

Professor Mark Spearing, Vice-President for Research & Enterprise at the University of Southampton, says: 

“The British Science Festival is a wonderful opportunity to bring people and science together. It’s a celebration of the impactful and transformational role universities like ours play in creating real change that can lead to positive outcomes for people and our planet.

“We’re delighted to be hosting the 2026 Festival and look forward to being able to showcase all that our University has to offer and welcoming people to our fantastic city.” 

The British Science Festival is one of Europe’s longest-established science festivals, which travels to a different part of the UK each year. It brings science to the wider public in the form of installations, exhibitions, talks, panel discussions, performances and more. The programme is aimed at an audience that is predominantly 16+ years old, and who have a broad interest in science but don’t actively seek to engage with it.

Ben Littlefield, Head of Public Engagement at the University of Southampton, adds: 

"We are delighted to be hosting the British Science Festival in 2026. It will give us the opportunity to showcase and celebrate the research, innovation and people, not just at the University of Southampton, but across our incredible region. It will provide a platform for mutually beneficial dialogue on the current challenges faced by society and what we can do together to address them. 

“The Festival gives us a brilliant opportunity to work together in partnership with our local communities to showcase what makes our university and city so special."

For more information about the British Science Festival 2026 and to stay up-to-date with events as they’re announced, visit the British Science Festival website or follow the Festival on Twitter and Facebook.

If you are an academic, local venue or regional business looking to get involved in the Festival, please contact the British Science Festival team on [email protected].

More about the British Science Festival

The first British Science Festival meeting took place in York in 1831. The Festival last visited the city of Southampton in 1992, making the 2026 Festival its sixth visit since the annual meetings began 195 years before.

The British Science Festival provides a setting for people who may not necessarily have an interest in science to find out more about subjects from space and food, to wildlife and health, and much more.

The programme will be curated by the BSA, University of Southampton and Festival partners over the next two years with a goal to engage audiences with world-class research in an accessible and digestible manner. Researchers from around the UK will discuss what their work means to society and its impact on people’s everyday lives.

The programme will feature roughly 100 free events, exhibitions, performances and installations that celebrate the people, stories and ideas at the heart of science.

The Festival has been the stage for many iconic moments in history – such as the famous debate on Darwin’s controversial theory of evolution. It also saw the first use of the word ‘scientist,’ in 1834. Over the years, the Festival has featured many famous names in science communication, such as Professor Brian Cox, Professor Alice Roberts, Sir David Attenborough and Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, as well non-scientists, including writer and poet Lemn Sissay, choreographer Wayne McGregor and broadcaster Lauren Laverne.

The origins of the Festival, previously known as the annual meeting, can be traced back to York, in 1831. Since then it has travelled the globe, including visits to Montreal and Australia. In 2024, the Festival was hosted by the University of East London, and in 2025, the Festival will be held in Liverpool in partnership with the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University.