Community Festival 2026
This year for the extra special centenary edition of the University of Reading Community Festival, the Cole Museum of Zoology will once again be opening its doors to the public! And as it's also our resident elephant Norman's 175th birthday, we have even more amazing celebrations planned!
About this event
On Saturday 16th May 12-5pm we will be hosting some fascinating talks and activities, along with arts and crafts and other fun events! And of course, our pop-up gift shop will also be open with even more zoological goodies to choose from!
Talks will be held in the seminar room next to the museum entrance. Booking is not required, but as spaces are limited, please turn up 5 minutes before:
| Title | Name | Start | End | |
| Talk 1 | Happy 175th Birthday to Norman, the Cole Museum’s elephant! | Claire Smith | 12:30 | 13:00 |
| Talk 2 | Going Wild! How we study elephants today | Dr. Vicky Boult | 13:10 | 13:40 |
| Talk 3 | Fantastic fossils and where to find them: ask a palaeontologist anything! | Dr. Thomas Clements | 13:50 | 14:20 |
| Talk 4 | 100 years of dinosaur eggs and babies | Dr. Jacob Gardner | 14:30 | 15:00 |
| Talk 5 | BioBlitz – Keeping track of wildlife on campus. | Dr. Matt Greenwell | 15:10 | 15:40 |
| Talk 6 | TBC | TBC | 15:50 | 16:20 |
| Talk 7 | TBC | TBC | 16:30 | 17:00 |
Other activities held in the museum include:
- Getting up close to some of the Cole collections
- Palaeontology games and specimens
- Elephant activities
- Entomology collections and LIVE specimens!
- Make your own herbarium sheet
- Museum scavenger hunt with PRIZES
- Arts, crafts and temporary tattoos!
We can’t wait to celebrate with you all soon!
Date & Time
Saturday 16 May 2026, 12:00 – 17:00
Cost
This event is FREE, just drop in!