(Sally) free and easy

Wychwood, THE family festival returns to Cheltenham Racecourse for its’ 9th outing, 31st May – 2nd June. And this year the BES will be in on the fun!

Day and Weekend Tickets are now available (with or without camping) and we've negotiated a very special ticket discount offer:

BES members and their families can save 30% on all tickets - and under 10s are free!

To take up the offer you need to book your tickets in the next 10 days- simply visit the Wychwood Festival ticket page (www.wychwoodfestival.com/tickets), and enter the promotion code when prompted. You'll find the discount code in today's February eBulletin in your inbox. Please book by 10^thMarch 2013 to get the discount. 

There's loads for all ages to enjoy at Wychwood. Over the weekend, you can expect to be entertained with more than 100 acts across indie, world and folk genres, and across 4 stages - early confirmations include The Human League, Bill Bailey, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Caravan Palace, The Beat, John Otway, Sam Lee, Moulettes, Eddie & The Hotrods, Public Service Broadcasting and Mr Bloom, with many more acts, and the Friday and Sunday headliners still to be announced. 

Add to that comedy, over 100 workshops for all ages, The Headphone Disco until the early hours, a Children’s Literature Festival, Great Food and Wychwood Ales, Healing Gardens, Artists and Sculpturer’s Quarter and, of course 'Sex & Bugs & Rock 'n Roll' at the BES stall, plus idyllic camping beneath the Prestbury Hills and you have your perfect summer-opening festival!

More information on the festival can be found at www.wychwoodfestival.com

Coffee and conversation (and competition entries)

Thanks again to everyone who entered our competition. There was so much good stuff that we had a hard time shortlisting. Invitations to our workshop with Science Made Simple will go out shortly, so keep an eye on your inboxes!
Invited participants are in for a treat, because the workshop will be lead by 'Mr Science-Busking' himself, David Price. Here's a video of David at work, which we've also favourited on our YouTube Channel:

Most of the team met at Charles Darwin House yesterday to discuss the competition entries, stall layout, festival applications, etc. It was a pretty productive afternoon - fuelled by enthusiasm and homemade muffins we even managed to agree on a Twitter hashtag for our festival activities: #BESfest

Things are getting exciting and we'll have a few announcements to make in the next week or two, so watch this space...

Shortlisting competition entries and discussing the stall layout...
From left to right: Julie, Amy, Sarah, Emma, Will, Helen. Matt joined 
us via the funny blue box thing in the centre of the table 
(it's bigger on the inside). Photo taken by Richard E.

...helped by tea and cakes!

The Green Man

Where better to set up our stall and enthuse festival-goers about Ecology than in Einstein's Garden at The Green Man Festival in Glanusk, Wales? Einstein's Garden is a fusion of science, art and nature and "is the perfect place to cultivate your curiosity and indulge your creative passions". We'll be engaging with people who want to find out more about the world we live in and linking to other activities in the garden by people who want to communicate science creatively.
The Green Man also has an exciting line-up, including Band of Horses and the inimitable Roy Harper. Maybe that's why we've had a flurry of really great competition entries over the weekend...
If you're still thinking about entering and wondering how to engage people in your research, you could try this advice from Nature Jobs on 'elevator speeches' - how to explain what you do in 2 minutes (and in simple terms). 

To start the week, we'll be listening to The Green Man by Roy Harper.

Ticket to ride

Not only are we taking ecology to festivals - now we can take some ecologists with us too...

Wychwood Festival is offering discounted tickets to all members of the British Ecological Society! 

Full details and how to claim the discount will be given in the February eBulletin, so BES members, please keep an eye out for the eBulletin in your inbox (and if you're not a member, perhaps this is an extra incentive to join?) The offer will only be available for a short time.

The favourable environmental conditions at Wychwood Festival provide a highly suitable niche for a horde of ecologists. The festival is as 'green' as possible, with measures to reduce the festival's carbon footprint and promote recycling. All the catering on site must use biodegradable plates and cutlery as well as fair-trade products such as sugar, tea, coffee and chocolate. 

In any case, ecologist or not, if you're at Wychwood and you like what we're doing, drop by and let us know!

By the way - we have a new logo to replace the temporary one we've been using (see last post). We hope you like it!