If you fancy getting out of London this weekend, consider heading over to the Cheltenham Science Festival. The annual event, now in its sixth year, brings together the UK’s ‘top scientists, artists and thinkers’. I’m tempted to go, just to find out how one gets to be described as a ‘thinker’.

The line-up includes the ubiquitous Lord Winston, the MRC’s Colin Blakemore, bioethicist Christine Hauskeller and tissue engineer Chris Mason from UCL. Environmentalist and Festival Director Jonathon Porritt will interrogate David Cameron about his green credentials. Other highlights include ‘Quirkology: the quirky science of everyday life’, ‘the Science of Cider’, and ‘From Sputnik to Sat Nav’. Oh, and Alex James from Blur is on tonight, talking about science and art.

The Cheltenham Science Festival concludes on Sunday. Most events take place in the town hall, and cost between £5 and £8.

Image of last year’s festival from Mark Witton’s Flickr photostream.