UVic hosts fifth annual community festival, March 7-12

Are hotter, drier summers the new norm for BC and what are the implications? How will personalized medicine transform health care? Why does war inspire great art? How is the 500-year-old art of lace being used to spur design innovation?

These are just a few of the topics to be featured at the University of Victoria’s fifth annual Ideafest, which runs March 7-12. A total of 50 events—all free and open to the public—will provide a glimpse into the world-class research, innovation and creative activity by UVic faculty members and students, and the impact their work is having on our lives.

A variety of panels, hands-on workshops, exhibits, lectures, performances, screenings and tours will cover topics such as healthy aging, the global refugee crisis, the impact of residential schools, mushrooms, urban restoration, retro computing, tsunamis, Indigenous languages, video games, childbirth, and coral reefs, to name a few.

“In five short years, Ideafest has grown into an incredible community celebration of new knowledge and its relevance to the world around us,” says David Castle, UVic’s vice-president research. “It’s as much about the interaction and exchange as it is about the ideas themselves.”

This year, Ideafest has more downtown locations, more hands-on youth-friendly events and more student involvement. “I encourage everyone to visit the website and check out the full schedule of events,” says Castle.

The full Ideafest schedule is available online at www.uvic.ca/ideafest, searchable by day or category. The schedule scales to all mobile devices.

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