Archimedes Screw Fest
The Arts are vital in bringing attention to difficult subjects, like the decline in health of the UK’s rivers.
At the 2018 Screw Fest, Archimedes (played by Tim McGill of Boabab Theatre), brilliantly wove together his inventions and discoveries with the location on the Dart, care of nature and wonder at our insatiable appetite for plastic: “Plastic. It’s not simple, it does not follow nature. This is progress? It’s discovery, I’m sure a miracle, made merchants rich – a miracle upon a miracle upon a miracle. A simple mathematical equation would, I’m sure, demonstrate that you can have too much of good thing…!?”.
A celebration of joined-up thinking–science, ecology, the arts, economy and learning–the Archimedes Screw Fest ran for three consecutive years; a free, day-long event on the River Dart including tours of the twin turbine hydropower plant (generating around 1,350 MWh per year of clean electricity) and river science training with Westcountry Rivers Trust–inspiring people to become citizen scientists to take care of the health and future of the river ecosystem.
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