“The Glastonbury of the natural world” Lucy Siegle, The Guardian

The world’s largest insect arts festival

Conceived in 2004, Pestival began when inspiration struck founder Bridget Zaidee Nicholls during a scientific insect film competition in the French Pyrenees. She found herself surrounded by villagers dressed up as insects, ‘grandmothers with wings, kids wearing praying mantis masks, and a few exuberant youths on grasshopper stilts .. swarming around the plaza’. With that, Pestival was born.

“I knew I had to put on an insect arts festival – a festival that celebrates the importance of insects. Without insects, we wouldn’t be here.” Bridget Zaidee Nicholls

Observer Ethical Awards Ceremony

Award winning

Pestival 2006 was held at the London Wetland Centre in Barnes, London. Over 10,000 people attended and over 10 million people were reached in media coverage in 23 countries. Highlights included Damon Albarn and Alistair McGowan as the voice of David Attenborough. Pestival was then invited to take place at the Southbank, Europe’s largest cultural centre. Pestival 2009 went on to win the Observer Ethical Award for Conservation.

Insect as muse at the Southbank

Pestival’s launch event was at ZSL London Zoo in September 2009, the first time an arts and science debate had taken place at the Huxley Lecture Theatre.

200,000 people attended over three days, the insects had landed at the Southbank with over 50 free interactive events, 60 trained volunteers and numerous experts at the cutting edge of art and science, featuring Blur’s Graham Coxon, Robyn Hitchcock, Valerie Singleton on the decks and the Softroom Architect’s iconic Termite Pavilion which went on to tour the UK before residing at Escott Park, Devon.

Since then Pestival held a three year residency at ZSL London Zoo, created and launched a musical event for the Cultural Olympiad, created a season of events called ‘Who’s The Pest’ across the Wellcome Collection and are now working with partners and collaborators on our next big Pestival 2020.

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