Packed September Programme for UNBOXED

September is a particularly busy month for UNBOXED with several projects going live, alongside others already underway. All are the result of collaboration, between them bringing together science, tech, engineering, art, maths, design, architecture, horticulture and more. They are also proving popular.

Last weekend, PoliNations opened in spectacular fashion, transforming Birmingham’s historic Victoria Square into a city centre garden with trees, shrubs and more than 6,000 flowers planted below a canopy of specially created architectural trees. The installation, which is free and runs until 18 September, is already pulling in the crowds, with a very busy opening weekend. Inspired by the global origins of the UK’s plant life and people, PoliNations is a wonderful celebration, with lots for people of all ages to see and do, so not to be missed.

Dandelion also staged a festival in Inverness at the weekend. Following on from the successful festival in Glasgow, it again featured live music – including Del Amitri, King Creosote and a host of others – and activities around food growing. Since launching in April, Dandelion has literally and metaphorically been sowing seeds across Scotland, with events and activities aimed at inspiring individuals and communities, and young people in particular, to get growing. Look out for the programme of hundreds of harvest events taking place from 9-11 September.

Last week saw SEE MONSTER’s The Awakening take place, with thousands of people crammed together along the seafront at Weston-super-Mare, for a spectacular drone show that took place over three months. You can watch the transformation of SEE MONSTER, from the viewing platform and look out for other activities, as it gets ready for people to go on board.

Coming up later this month, GALWAD will transport Wales 30 years into the future for a project that pushes the boundaries of how stories are told, with characters and storylines connecting across TV drama, live performance, social media and news.

Inspired by the Well Being of Future Generations Act (2015), Wales’ remarkable policy putting the rights of future generations at the heart of decision-making, GALWAD is a story that unfolds in real-time from Monday 26 September to Sunday 2 October. It will be live streamed on digital channels across the week, culminating in a four-hour broadcast on Sky Arts on Sunday 2 October, with a live broadcast of the finale from Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales, followed by a 60-minute TV drama set in 2052. 

Other projects this month include Dreamachine, which has just finished its hugely popular run in Belfast and continues in Edinburgh until 25 September. If you’re able to get to that fine city, walk up tickets are available, so check it out if you can. Even if you can’t make it in person, you can get involved in a major public science project, the Dreamachine Perception Census.

Green Space Dark Skies also continues. The weekend saw hundreds of people climb England’s highest peak, Scafell Pike, which was filmed for the special programme being created for the BBC’s Countryfile programme, which will be broadcast in October. The next few weeks will see other members of the public climb the highest peaks in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as part of the television special.

After going to other towns and cities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, StoryTrails, arrives in Lambeth and Lewisham, offering local people and visitors the opportunity to discover new and lesser-known stories about some of the people who have contributed to the life of the place they live in. Using VR, AR and 3D technology, StoryTrails is advancing how we use these technologies for new ways of immersive storytelling.

Details of the film being created by the StoryTrails team, to be broadcast on the BBC, will be announced soon.