Darwin Festival proving to be a success

The festival sees more than 30 free events taking place around Shrewsbury to encourage people follow Darwin’s lead to be curious and think independently.

Events run from February 8 to 24 with a promise of something to suit all tastes and all ages.

Aleks Vladimirov, partnerships manager at Shrewsbury BID which co-ordinates the festival, said: “There are a wide variety of events with many people working in groups or individually to cover just about anything Darwin related.

“It’s the ideal opportunity to learn everything there is to know about Darwin and celebrate his life and achievements.

“They have worked really hard to put everything in place, and the events have been a great success - with some being full to capacity.

"Because it’s being held over more than a fortnight, the festival also gives visitors the opportunity to look around our wonderful town and see what Shrewsbury has to offer.

“We are immensely proud of our town and the DarwIN festival allows us to showcase Shrewsbury to a wide audience with the excellent prospects of them returning in the future.”

Among the events is an exhibition about Darwin’s early life being held by Shrewsbury Civic Society at The Bear Steps Gallery from February 11 throughout the month, which will include a life-size figure of Darwin which people can have their photo taken with.

There is also a Darwin themed wild play for youngsters on February 20 where children can discover and learn about wildlife that would have fascinated Darwin.

Guided tours of Darwin’s childhood in Shrewsbury will be held on six days, with the tour starting from St Chad’s Church and concentrating on the areas of the town which acted as his inspiration.

The festival will also be playing host to Darwin’s great, great, great, granddaughter Gwen Burnyeat who will be giving a talk on the Colombian peace process from 2012 to 2016. The talk, ‘peace pedagogy’ takes place on February 22.