Programme for the Yorkshire Fossil Festival all across Scarborough this weekend

This year’s festival is MC-ed by earth scientist, ringmaster and science communicator Steve Cousins, who will oversee Festival events at Scarborough Spa on Saturday September 17 and Sunday September 18, with two Rock Showman Booths – llustrated mobile venues housing a range of educational and entertainment activities – in the open space of the Sun Court.

He will by joined by the Witty Look Show, a multi-award-winning international circus duo from Japan, and his own performing circus team, Let's Circus.

Big names from the worlds of palaeontology and geology will give talks at the Sun Court in Scarborough Spa, exhibitors will be showing off their fossil discoveries in the Spa’s Promenade Lounge, while dinosaurs from Rent a Dinosaur will roam the town centre.

Visitors to the Brunswick Shopping Centre will also be able to pop in to a Dinosaur Pop-Up Museum, displaying some of the Jurassic fossils found around Scarborough.

Yorkshire Fossil Festival Director Liam Herringshaw said: “There’ll be films, workshops, storytelling, an artist in residence, and loads of free fossil fun for all the family to enjoy.”

The full programme is:

At the Spa Sun Court:

The Rock Showman – from 10am Saturday and Sunday

Talks:

Professor Chris Jackson – Can Geology Save the World – 11am Saturday)

Dr Katie Strang – Jaws and Jobbies in the Age of Coal – 1pm Saturday

Dr Barry Lomax – The Extinction of Plants – 11am Sunday)

Sarah Caldwell Steele – Vampires, Mummies and Super Volcanoes – 3pm Sunday

Artist in Residence – James McKay – 11am-3pm Saturday and Sunday

The Witty Look Show – 2pm Saturday and Sunday)

At the town centre Brunswick Centre:

Dinosaur Pop-up Museum – 10am-4pm Saturday and Sunday

Rent A Dinosaur – from 10.30am Saturday and Sunday) including Meet Stegosaurus – 11am, noon, 2pm, 3pm – and Meet T Rex – 11.30am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm, 3.30pm

At the Stephen Joseph Theatre:

Fossil Film Fest – Saturday:

One Million Years BC – 2pm

The Flintstones – 5pm

Fire of Love, with Q&A with Dr Rebecca Williams – 7.30pm

At Scarborough Library:

Fossil Festival storytelling and exhibition – 9am-3pm Saturday

Limited edition library cards have been produced especially for the festival, and there will be activities for children on Saturday at the library, when they can activate their cards.

At Scarborough Museums:

Emma Gibson Quicksand workshop – Scarborough Art Gallery, 10.30am and 2.30pm, Saturday

Plus:

Dinosaur Footprint Hunt – 1.30pm Saturday and Sunday – meet at the Fossil Festival welcome desk in the Promenade Lounge at the Spa.

Chalking with Dinosaurs with the Let’s Circus dino-cart (along the seafront, Saturday and Sunday, starting at the West Pier at 10.30am and 1.30pm, and at the Spa at noon.

The Festival will also feature displays and activities from local and national museums, universities and businesses, including: The Fossil Shop, Scarborough.