(Photograph by Mark Pilkington)
8 June 2006
* Pestival is over! And what a week of wonders it was! Our thanks to all of you who came down to take part or simply enjoy the show. Don't forget our photo diaries on Flickr, from Mark Pilkington , Bridget Nicholls and Salim Fadhley. If you have your own photos you'd like to send us, please email them over! And don't worry, Pestival will return....
* Maggot racing supremo Amoret Brandt tells us: "The total number of maggots in the box was 3713. Two people came closest to the correct number, both were out by 63. Emma Battishill from Stockwell, London guessed 3650, Clara Townsin from St. Martin, Jersey guessed 3776. Both win a fabulous lime green National Insect Week t-shirt." Lucky Maggots!
*Pestival favourites The Phasmid Study Group and the British Tarantula Society will be back on Saturday and Sunday, 3 &4 June!
* Pestival has made the news in a great piece by Helen Brown in The Independent, "Pest in Show"
* Don't forget Pestival Yoga, happening every day at 12.30-1pm with Pauline Crawford of PushBabies.com
* Pestival is fully underway - we have two Flickr photostreams up and running. One set from Mark Pilkington and the other from Salim Fadhley.
* Rainforest Yurt from Amazon Alive will feature live insects – a Chilean Rose tarantula, an Imperial scorpion, a Giant Millepede, a Giant Carribean Winged Cockroach and a Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroach – talks on Amazon plants, animals and indigenous tribes, plus live rainforest music! Here's a PDF of what's going on. Until Monday 29 May.
* Pestival's Bridget Nicholls will be on LBC Radio at 11am this Sunday, 21 May.
* Photo competition winners now online!
* Tina McCallan's ambush bug interactive artwork to appear on Sunday 29 and Monday 30 May!
* Download our Pestival Programme as a PDF (455k)
* Download our Press Pack (3.7MB zip)
* Booking lines now open! Please call 020 8409 4400 to book tickets for Stridulations, our performance night, or the film evening. We strongly recommend booking ahead for both events as spaces are limited.
* Mira Calix and Pestival's Bridget Nicholls will be on BBC Radio Three's The Verb on Saturday 20 May at 9.30pm.
* The Pestival Crew do a Clear Spot on Resonance FM on Wednesday 24 May.
* Pestival Yoga for all the family! 12.30-1 Monday 29 May - Friday 2 June. Turn up and bug out!
* The Phasmid Study Group and the British Tarantula Society will be on hand on Sunday 29 May with their favourite sticky and hairy friends!
* Insects of the Amazon
Sound installation 2pm and 4pm daily: come play along with live insect sounds in our special Amazon tent! in conjunction with Amazon Alive.
* Pestival speaker and performer David Rothenberg features in this month's The Wire magazine.
* Look for Pestival in May's The Ecologist magazine
*See our official Pestival Family Tree, drawn by Malcolm Whitehead!
* Insect Recording Masterclass with sound artist Peter Cusack. Thursday 1st June, 6.30 pm. £15. Booking essential – call 020 8409 4400. Please bring your own recording equipment. The final recordings will be blended to make a live soundscape for resonance104.4fm
* The Royal Entomological Society and Buglife, The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, will run stalls throughout the week, featuring demonstrations, displays and information.
* Unfortunately Nabil Shaban, won't be able to perform at the Pestival after all. However, poet John Hegley is preparing a special video presentation for us.
* We are now accepting entries for the IAP Photo Competition, so get out there and get snapping! Here's how to enter.
* We're also still looking for submissions for our short film festival and art gallery - if you have anything you think might be appropriate, celebrating "insects in art and the art of being an insect", please get in touch with us.
* Stewart Lee, co-creator of Jerry Springer the Opera, will be donning an insect constume to fully embody the spirit of the Pestival.
* Resonance FM will be broadcasting live from the Wetlands Centre for the duration of the Pestival.