QUB joins bid for Festival UK 2022

The Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) at Queen’s University Belfast has joined forces with homegrown Great British Bake Off star Andrew Smyth and Jamie Oliver’s team to bid for a place in Festival UK 2022 - a massive showcase of arts and science creativity to take place across the UK in 2022.
By Community Reporter
Published 25th Nov 2020, 11:00 BST
Food Scientist Professor Chris Elliott OBEFood Scientist Professor Chris Elliott OBE
Food Scientist Professor Chris Elliott OBE

The IGFS-led consortium has been shortlisted for the next stage of the competition, being one of just 30 successful bids, whittled down from almost 300.

The team comprises Food Scientist Professor Chris Elliott OBE (PICTURED) , Behavioural Psychologist Professor Moira Dean and International Events Co-ordinator Tomas Bamford from IGFS; Jamie Oliver’s team including Producer Greg Burke and Chief Content Officer Zoe Collins; Northern Ireland-born aerospace engineer, TV presenter and baker, Andrew Smyth; TV producer and marketing CEO Martin Lowde, who has worked on The X Factor, American Idol and Spice Girls tours; Dr Jane Ali-Knight, Professor in Festival and Event Management at Edinburgh Napier University; and Daniel Bernstein and Amaya Jeyarajah Dent from Emergency Exit Arts, one of the country’s longest running, outdoor arts organisations.

Getting through to the Research and Development stage now gives the team the opportunity to develop concepts and ideas that could manifest in a celebration of food, food science and all things culinary.

Teams are drawn from the worlds of science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (‘STEAM’) including artists; scientists; technologists; engineers; mathematicians; choreographers; coders; gamers; musicians; theatre-makers; and writers.

Independently run and led by Chief Creative Officer Martin Green, Festival UK* 2022 is backed by the four governments of the UK with £120 million of new investment.

It’s been designed to stimulate hard-hit economies and the arts sector with a series of 10 exciting public-engagement projects running throughout 2022.

They may be live, or digital, but probably both, as the project as a whole seeks to reach 66 million people world-wide.

The final 10 pitches will be selected after each Creative Team presents to a panel in February 2021 with the full festival programme announced later next year.

In the meantime, all 30 shortlisted groups have been awarded £100,000 each to develop their bids.