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Q: What is Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival?

Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival, formerly called Human Worlds Festival, is the University of Southampton's annual celebration of Humanities and the Arts. It is a 10-day celebration with digital and in-person events taking place across the University and the city of Southampton.

The Festival usually coincides with Being Human festival, the UK's only national festival of the humanities.

Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival will mainly run as a digital (online) edition, with resources and live events accessible from everywhere in the world.

In 2021, Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival will run Thursday 11th to Saturday 20th November. To be among the first to find out what's on this year, sign up to the UoS Festival mailing list or follow #UoSArtsHumFest on social media.


Q: What is Hands-on Humanities Day?

Hands-on Humanities Day is a FREE family-friendly day of celebration with a selection of interactive stands, workshops, talks, exhibitions, and live shows to explore the world of Humanities and the Arts.

During the days, you can meet and interact with researchers, local community groups and artists.

This event usually take place in Southampton, between 10:30 and 16:30, on the second Saturday of Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival, in a venue easily accessible by public transport.

This year, Hands-on Humanities Day will take place on Saturday 20th November, from 10:30 to 16:30, at the Avenue Campus (SO17 1BF). The event is free but registration online is required. To find out more and book your tickets, please click here.


Q: Is Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival suitable for all ages?

Yes, our programme includes a range of activities to entertain a variety of ages from young children to adults. You can check the 'Ages suitable for' information for each activity to find out more.


Q: How accessible is Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival?

We do our very best to make Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival accessible to everyone whether it is our recent digital version or face-to-face.

The website has tools to enhance contrast, by inverting colours, and increasing/decreasing font size. All the activities have been coded for accessibility and age suitability.

If you have further questions concerning accessibility, please email the UoS Festival team at festival@soton.ac.uk


Q: How can I participate in Festival events?

All our digital events are free and designed to reach international audiences from anywhere in the world. Most in-person events are also free. You can check the 'Price' information (next to the ticket icon) for each activity to find out more on this.

To avoid missing a live event you want to attend, you can save it on your calendar by clicking on its date and time - this will prompt the download of an .ics file compatible with most iCalendars.

Some events will have booking information attached to them. Booking or joining instructions are clearly set out within the description on our website - just click the 'Booking' link and follow the instructions.


Q: Why do I have to book tickets for some of the events, even if they are free?

We ask everyone to book a free ticket for some live events, it helps the UoS Festival team plan and ensure the best attendee experience.

If you register through Eventbrite, you will receive an automatic confirmation email straight away, plus reminder emails 48 hours and, 30 minutes before the event starts.

Some of these emails will include information on how to join the event online or what to get ready with before the event starts (particularly for interactive workshops).

We send these emails to make sure you have all the key information to join the event on time and get fully involved with it. In some cases, a reminder email is sent a few minutes after the event starts to make sure no one is left behind, in case previous emails have been misplaced.


Q: Is it OK if I book one ticket and then share my screen with others once I have joined an event (e.g., teacher sharing screen with class)?

Yes, this is absolutely fine, but we are keen to know how many people are doing this, so for bookable events on Eventbrite we have included a question about this in the order form. This will help us to review and make enhancements for next year.


Q: How can I provide feedback for the Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival live digital events?

We kindly ask everyone attending live events to complete a short anonymous survey at the end of each event. The purpose of this is to help with planning and ensuring the best possible visitor experience during the Festival and at our future events, and your help would be greatly appreciated.

For any other feedback, please email festival@soton.ac.uk or use our dedicated contact form.


Q: What similar events can I join in with my family?

The UoS Festival team at the Public Engagement with Research unit organises several family-friendly events across the year.

Our annual Southampton Science and Engineering Festival (SOTSEF) is held every March, during British Science Week, and the programme usually includes Science and Engineering Day, a free family-friendly event taking place across Highfield Campus and Boldrewood Innovation Campus, packed with hundreds of interactive hands-on activities, workshops, live shows, art performances and laboratory tours from across all our Faculties.

For Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival we now also contribute towards related special events including Black History Month (October), UK Disability History Month(November-December) and LGBT+ History Month (February).

The UoS Festival team also has a dedicated YouTube channel with video resources and recordings of events from past Festivals.

You could also follow us @UoS_Engagement on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and request to join our UoS Festival mailing list to find out more and stay up to date with the latest opportunities.


Q: I have another question - how do I get in touch?

Please send an email festival@soton.ac.uk or use our dedicated contact form.