Science forest added to Latitude Festival line-up

One of the UK's biggest music and art festivals has announced it will have a science-focused arena during the four-day event.

The Latitude Festival is expected to welcome more than 40,000 people to Henham Park, near Southwold in Suffolk, between 24 and 27 July.

The new science area is called The Cosmic Shambles Forest of Science and Culture and has been curated by The Cosmic Shambles Network, which was founded by Robin Ince and Trent Burton.

Inside the forest there will be a science festival infused with a book club, comedy club, music and interactive museum.

Organisers say the new arena will mark the first time something like this has been hosted at Latitude in the past 19 years.

Melvin Benn, founder and director of Latitude Festival, said: "The addition of the Cosmic Shambles Forest to this year's Latitude Festival is a genuine thrill.

"There's nowhere else that brings together oceanographers, comedians, astrophysicists, musicians, poets, and puppet dogs in quite the same way. This is something truly special for 2025."

Burton, the Cosmic Shambles Network producer and co-founder, said: "We're going to bring our unique Shambles flavour to the forest over the whole weekend."

Helen Czerski is a physicist, oceanographer, author and a fan of the network.

She said: "The audience at Latitude love new ideas, and are definitely up for satisfying their curiosity alongside getting their fill of music and sun."

The science forest is set to explore a wide-range of topics such as climate science, horror cinema, particle physics, literature, neurodiversity, space exploration, mental health, and maggots.

Musical headliners for the festival have previously been announced as Sting, Fatboy Slim and Snow Patrol.

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