MALVERN'S Festival of Innovation is to run next week from Monday until Saturday.

Attracting famous names like mathematician Marcus du Sautoy and futurist Anne Lise Kjaer, the event is keeping the tradition of scientific discovery alive in a town well known for its technological developments like radar, liquid crystals and touch screens. The aim of the Festival is to bring science, technology and engineering to life for everyone, whatever their age and interest, as well as encouraging young people to become intrigued by the sciences through a series of hands-on experiences.

Festival Founder Dr Adrian Burden said: “Innovation is a team sport; not something that comes about through isolation. The Festival aims to demonstrate this by bringing together creative minds to share insights and inspire new ideas. With plenty of opportunity to interact and network throughout the event, we hope people will go away with new thoughts for their business, their future career, or simply the way they live.”

The week-long programme ranges from talks that explore the ability of humans to innovate, narratives that highlight the trials and tribulations of being an entrepreneur, a showcase of the UK’s cutting edge cyber security capability, and technology demos to enthuse and excite.

There will be a launch event this evening in St Edmunds Hall, Malvern College with Marcus du Sautoy titled What We Cannot Know, which asks "Is the human brain's ability to innovate intrinsically limited? Or are there no bounds to what we can discover and understand?"

Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 4, will see a Next Generation Innovators Schools’ Outreach session at the Three Counties Showground showcasing creative science, technology and entrepreneurship for middle and senior school students (Years 7 to 9) from around the region.

On Wednesday, October 5 is an evening of Startup Stories at the Coach House Theatre, Malvern to enthuse about the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurship with the founder of TextLocal Alastair Shortland, The Apprentice finalist and Whisk chief executive Nick Holzherr and Worcester's Dragons' Den success Neil Westwood of Magic Whiteboard.

The following day will feature an all day exhibition of Cyber security and Internet of Things at Malvern Theatres and a Festival Gala Evening with a three course meal and talk by guest speaker, futurist and author Anne Lise Kjaer in Malvern College new sports complex.

Thursday, October 7 also has two events The Business of Innovating, a themed symposium at Malvern Theatres, and Creative Careers, an afternoon seminar for senior school students (Years 10 to 13) interested in science, technology, engineering, and design at Malvern College’s New Sports Complex.

The Festival concludes with a Family Day on Saturday, October 8 in Malvern Theatres with speakers Dr Emily Grossman and Dr Mark Lewney and a chance to discover some of the latest new things like drones, Raspberry Pis and 3D Printers.