Highlights for innovators in business and tech

Looking to the future?

Explore the cities of tomorrow, discover the impact of pioneering tech on a cultural revolution, and get a glimpse of the future at The Great Exhibition Road Festival. Our highlights take place on both Saturday and Sunday and are drop-in unless specified otherwise.

Don't forget, if you register for Alumni Weekend, you'll also get access to the Alumni Lounge. Enjoy free refreshments all day, and a space away from the crowds where you and your guests can take a moment to relax together. If you register by 8.00 BST on Monday 15 May, you'll get priority booking for our exclusive alumni tours and some of the most popular Great Exhibition Road Festival talks.

Top picks for innovators

Adults enjoying the Great Exhibition Road Festival

1851der tent

Bathe in a cosmic ray shower, peer into a microscope and discover how researchers are transforming the way girls learn.

Uncover the legacy of the Great Exhibition

Student and supervisor in the Chemical Kitchen

Alumni tour: Chemical Kitchen

Discover the home of an original transdisciplinary practical course that uses cooking to teach lab skills. Only available with an Alumni Lounge pass.

Visit the Chemical Kitchen

Children interacting with an exibit in the Building the Future Zone

Building the Future zone

Learn about new materials and technologies that will build and power our future cities.

Get hands on with sustainable materials

The Design Innovation Zone at the Great Exhibition Road Festival

Design Innovation zone

Discover interactive activities and innovations which address the challenges faced by our planet.

Get a glimpse of the future

Graphic illustration of light

Quantum light for future tech

Learn how the nature of information in the quantum world translates into cutting edge technologies.

Make the invisible visible

Robot and human hands touching

Smart Machines zone

Discover robotic friends, revolutionary tech, green transport innovations and smarter AI.

Explore the cities of tomorrow

Brain scan image

The brain on drugs

Explore the origins of cognitive performance and creativity and how they could be chemically improved or enhanced. Sunday only, priority booking with an Alumni Lounge pass.

Explore the neuroscience of consciousness

Hands in front of a bright stage background

The Korean wave

From K-Pop to Squid Games, learn how pioneering tech and digital culture turned South Korea into a cultural powerhouse. Saturday only.

Learn about the 'rags to smartphones' revolution

Hand holds a globe with a butterfly nearby

The last butterfly

What stories will we tell future generations about our planet? Will the last butterfly of summer be the last one of all? Saturday only.

Settle down for a personal tale of awe and wonder