When you hit a festival you’ve got to plan what you want to see with military rigour, right? Surely it takes all the fun out of it if you aren’t knackered from running between venues all week? In much the same way that I drive my friends crazy when we go to Glastonbury by insisting on colour coding the line-up with bands I’d love to see (green), and wouldn’t mind seeing if we happened not to be currently installed at one of the aforementioned slots (blue), my science festival picks have been booked and timed to the minute!

I’m happy to say that I’ve managed to score tickets for lots of my top picks for the festival this year: Prof. Iain Stewart’s recounting of the geological journey behind his new series ‘Story of the Continents’, Richard Fortey and Co. for their upliftingly titled scientific journey to the end of the world ‘The Real Doomsday 2012: Cataclysmic Events and Human Extinction’ and ‘An Audience with Bill Bryson’ (where I may attempt to make recompense with the Bry’s for my father accosting him for a photo op at my graduation ceremony some years back)

With the festival only a few days away now, expect rants, reviews and exclamations of general excitement to appear at any time!