Please read below for answers to Frequently Asked Questions about taking part in the Festival of Communities. If your question isn't covered, feel free to drop us an email.
The deadline for submitting your application is end of day Thursday 30th of March. We do always recommend that you send your application as soon as you can so we can act promptly on issues if any should arise. If you are ever in doubt, make sure to read the Guide to taking part in the Festival of Communities 2023 [PDF 1,157KB] or get in touch with the team via email.
The Festival attracts a lot of local families with varying ages of children, with the majority under 14 years old. In 2022, we saw around 8,000 visitors attend over the two days.
We are open to ideas; the main takeaway is that your activity should be fun and engaging for our local residents. We would encourage you to organise activities that can be run at a table-sized stand, two tables or a similar sized space. Due to the busy nature of the Festival, we have found over the years that workshops, talks, or short film screenings do not work as well in the environment, so we will be unable to accommodate these.
The Festival is also a space for hands-on activities rather than information stands. We tend to discourage PowerPoints as they are not particularly interactive. In the park you would also need to supply a device/screen to view it on. As many adults are there with children, it is a good idea to design something for kids to do so you can have a conversation with their parent or guardian or something that they can do together which will tell them about your research.
Yes, leaflets are a great way to reach your target audience. However, we are working hard to make the Festival as sustainable as possible. We would encourage you to consider alternative ways to spread information about your research, such as through the use of QR codes. This is cost-effective, planet-friendly and allows people to interact through their phones. We do, however, recognise that some visitors may not have a phone or data etc. so we recommend having a backup option. Equally, for many local residents English is a second language with varying levels of comprehension so we discourage lots of text and reading for visitors to take part in your activity.
If you are new to the Festival of Communities or you're not sure where to start in coming up with a table-top activity idea, there is a suite of help and support on offer led by the Centre for Public Engagement team. If you need to speak to someone about your activity idea, you can book a 30 minute 1:1 advice session with one of the team. They will be able to answer any specific questions that you may have. Alternatively, you can also reach them directly via email.
When you are ready to apply, head over to the submit your activity section and fill in the form at the bottom of the page. Please make sure to go through all the guidance documents attached before you start filling in your application form.
Funding of up to £500 is available for Queen Mary activities led by staff and students who would not be able to take part otherwise, to create new Queen Mary engagement activities to feature at the Festival of Communities 2023.
Funding of up to £200 is available for activities led by community organisations which could not happen otherwise, to create new engagement activities to feature at the Festival of Communities 2023.
No, this is a competitive process and not everyone who requests funding will be successful. Requests will be assessed, and funding granted based on the information that you will provide during the application process.
Leading an activity at the Festival is a lot of work on top of your studies and we believe you should be compensated for it. While we recommend that PhD students taking part in the Festival are paid for their time, however we understand that not all research groups have the budget for that. Therefore, we have a small pot of funding available to support the payment of PhD students that is separate from the funding we have available for people to apply to if they have no other way of financing their activity.
All applicants will be informed on Friday 21st April if their activities have been successful to feature in the Festival.