Money’s tight for everyone these days, but if you’ve ever enjoyed a few hours – or a few days – at the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, perhaps you could spare a few quid to help keep the Fossil Festival marquee free.
You can earn a unique ‘I funded the Fossil Festival’ t-shirt, an autographed copy of Chris Stringer’s ‘The Origin of Our Species’, a fossil walk for you and your friends, an introduction to fossil preparation, or a guided tour of the Natural History Museum.
We’re hoping to stage the Festival again, on 3-5 May 2013. This will include the primary schools day on Friday 3rd May, which is free to more than 600 children from 20 primary schools. The free Grand Marquee is open to the general public Saturday and Sunday, with loads of hands-on science and arts activities for visitors or all ages.
The Natural History Museum are looking forward to coming back, and we already have at least two brand new activities planned. A project led by the British Geological Survey is compiling 3D scans of all the British ‘type’ fossils – the unique specimens that define the species. The team will come to Lyme with a 3D scanner and demonstrate how new digital technologies are helping researchers working on specimens that are millions of years old. We’ll also have a 3D printer – if you’ve never seen one in action you won’t believe it’s possible!
We’re also working with the best British paleoartists to stage an exhibit of their work. It will be stunning, but it’s also scientifically important step in questioning, analysing and proposing how prehistoric creatures might have looked and moved, and what kind of environment they lived in.
Our popular talks programme will be back too, with general talk during the day and specialist talks about new research in the evenings.
But all of this depends on funding… We’re doing our best to ferret out grants and search for corporate sponsors, but we’d also encourage anyone who has enjoyed the Festival and would like to help to keep it going to make a donation online. Every little bit counts, and there are some great rewards if you feel inclined to pledge a little extra!
