Aberdeen is set to play host to a diverse and fascinating series of events set to inspire and educate people of all ages and backgrounds with this year's Mayhem programme.
The Mayhem programme runs alongside the May Festival and promises to deliver something for everyone throughout May at different locations across the city.
King’s and Zoology museums will come alive from 5pm to 9pm on Saturday 16 May for Night at the Museum: Animal Armoury. In this fun-filled, free family event there will be the opportunity to hold live animals and see how they defend themselves from predators. There will also be an opportunity to hold ancient weapons from the museum’s collections.
On Sunday 22 May, there is more fun for the family at Out to Play – Lifelong Learning Starts Here. While the youngsters can have fun building dens in Cruickshank Botanic Gardens, the grown-ups can hear Sue Palmer, chair of Upstart Scotland and author of Toxic Childhood and 21st Century Boys, talk about the benefits of active outdoor play for young children.
Across town, in a literary double-bill, Waterstones will host the WORD strand of the Mayhem programme. Sue Lawrence, food writer, Masterchef winner and journalist will launch her second novel The Night He Left, about the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879 and Neil MacKay, multi-award winning investigative journalist, author and film-maker will launch his gripping novel Wolf Trial, the first documented account of a serial killer in history.
The ever-popular Café Med series will draw to a close on Monday 23 May at 6pm in the Suttie Centre Café where Professor Adilia Warris (Aberdeen Fungal Group), Professor Graham Devereux (Clinical Consultant) and Dr Deborah O’Neil (Novabiotics Ltd Aberdeen) will discuss cystic fibrosis. In the first ever live-streamed Café Med, the discussion will focus on current treatments for cystic fibrosis and what the future holds for its2.5 million people in the UK that carry the CF gene.
The innovative and exciting PechaKucha format returns to Belmont Filmhouse on Tuesday 24 May at 7pm. Devised in Tokyo, the PechaKucha allows participants to show 20 images for 20 seconds each to discuss their art, research, design and inspired ideas. This special PechaKucha event is held jointly with the Aberdeen Society of Architects and is supported as part of the Year of Innovation Architecture and Design 2016.
In a special Café Scientifique, Dr Bert Timmermans, Lecturer in Psychology, will talk about social interaction and considers why we interact with each other. This informal and insightful event will be held at Waterstones, on May 25 at 7pm.
For those interested in the visual arts, on May 25 lecturer Amy Bryzgel will be in conversation with Richard Demarco – an arts impresario and artist, who will describe his travels and encounters with artists in Eastern Europe. This event will be followed at 7.30pm by a drinks reception and opening of the exhibition “Eastern European Performance in Scotland: the Legacy of Richard Demarco” in the MacRobert building.
What do you really see on a North Korea tour? This is the topic for discussion in the popular Skeptics in the Pub event at The Holburn Bar, 225 Holburn Street on Thursday 26 May from 7.30pm. Author Robin Tudge, will talk about his many visits to North Korea with an informal and illustrated presentation.
Laura Young, Project Officer from Public Engagement with Research at The University of Aberdeen said: “The May Festival weekend boasts lots of great events for everyone to enjoy but we also have a host of events out with the main programme to get the festivities started.
“We are thrilled to invite the public to come along to these events to join in with the Mayhem!”
Further information can be found at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/mayfestival and the fun can be followed at #mayfestival and @UoA_whatson
The University of Aberdeen May Festival runs from Friday, May 27 to Sunday, May 29. Tickets for all events can be booked by visiting http://www.abdn.ac.uk/mayfestival/ or through the Aberdeen Box Office on 01224 641122.
Follow this link to view the Café Med live screening www.abdn.ac.uk/engage/cafemed