Visitors flocked to South Kensington for the increasingly popular Great Exhibition Road Festival earlier this summer.
Around 55,000 members of the public travelled to Imperial College London’s South Kensington campus and surrounding areas for the Great Exhibition Road Festival on 7 and 8 June 2025.
Staff and students from across Imperial put together a spectacular edition of this annual event in collaboration with our neighbouring institutions. Visitors went on a journey of discovery through hundreds of hands-on exhibits, creative workshops, engaging talks, music, dance and comedy performances, roaming acts, and street art.
The festival continues to be a hit, with visitor satisfaction increasing year-on-year. In 2025, 94% rated their overall festival experience good or excellent and 95% of visitors showed a strong intention of returning next year (up from 90% and 91% in 2024). Evaluation showed that those who contribute to the festival also find the experience rewarding, with 95% rating their experience as good or excellent.
Watch the Festival highlights video to hear first-hand what people thought:
Vicky Brightman, Director of Public Engagement at Imperial and Festival Director, said: ”The Great Exhibition Road Festival reflects the very best of what we hope to do at Imperial, breaking down barriers between scientific institutions and the public. Each year, I’m incredibly proud that we welcome thousands of visitors to discover, explore, and help shape conversations around the remarkable research taking place at Imperial—alongside celebrating connections between science and the arts, and the unique experiences created when these two disciplines are in dialogue with each other.”
Reaching new audiences
The Great Exhibition Road Festival helps draw new people to the area and Imperial, with 65% of visitors having no prior connection to Imperial College London, or any other South Kensington based university or visitor attraction. 45% stated that they encountered new organisations while visiting the festival, and 22% discovered Imperial for the first time by attending the event.
Being exposed to a huge range of scientific research is one of festival’s many appeals, and attending can play an influential role in inspiring a future student or staff member. “I’m definitely exploring my choices for the future,” one visitor remarked. “It was nice to see people who already work in the field who are so passionate about what they were taking about. It really makes an impact if someone is talking to you and you can clearly tell they love what they’re talking about.”
The weekend wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of the festival’s exhibitors, speakers, and volunteers, who put in a huge amount of time and energy to create a warm and engaging atmosphere for visitors. 96% of visitors noted how welcoming the festival felt, which can encourage people to return to South Kensington, as well as help to reduce preconceived ideas of whether the area and the institutions it houses are ‘for them’. 71% said their experience at the Great Exhibition Road Festival had made them more likely to visit South Kensington in the future, an increase from 63% in 2024.
Connecting science with society
The festival presents a flagship opportunity to involve the public in the innovative scientific research that can impact their lives, creating participatory experiences that pique interest and curiosity. 89% of visitors felt inspired to find out more about the things they saw, with 88% noting that they felt encouraged to ask questions by the researchers they interacted with—whose enthusiasm for facilitating public participation is paramount to the success of the festival.
It’s time to bridge the gap between science and society—by making everyone part of the discovery. Dr Sonia Gera
For instance, Dr Sonia Gera is a UKRI Research Fellow in the Department of Materials, who investigates biomaterials that can fix broken bones and help them heal while preventing infection. She brought her work into the Future Medicine Zone, translating lab research into hands-on experiments that visitors could take part in.
“Seeing excitement, engagement, and curiosity as [the public] mixed solutions turning to hydrogels was incredibly fulfilling—it was great to increase understanding on biomaterials for the bone healing process,” she commented.
“It’s time to bridge the gap between science and society” she continued, “by making everyone part of the discovery.” The Great Exhibition Road Festival hopes to help bridge that gap, inspiring diverse groups of all ages through the wide range of fun, interactive and informative activities created by our incredible Imperial community and wider festival partners.
Looking ahead
The 2026 edition of the Great Exhibition Road Festival, which will mark 175 years since the original Great Exhibition of 1851, will take place on 6 and 7 June 2026 (follow @ExRdFestival on Instagram, Facebook and X for the latest festival news and events).
Ahead of this, Imperial Lates—a series of post-work events where visitors get the chance to interact with scientific developments during a fun, social evening—will begin again in the Autumn. Sign up to the Imperial events emails to get updates about the wide range of public events happening across our campuses.
Work for Imperial and want to take part? 95% of contributors rated their experience as good or excellent, with 88% saying they would recommend taking part to a friend or a peer. A call for proposals from research teams hoping to get involved will open later this year in October.
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