science

Pestival

Pestival is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pestival rather than just read about it. In short: Pestival is an international arts festival dedicated to ‘the art of being an insect'. Pestival won the 2010 Observer Ethical Award in Conservation, and had a three year residency at ZSL London Zoo.

Key takeaways

Pestival belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pestival to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pestival from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pestival is an international arts festival dedicated to ‘the art of being an insect'. Pestival won the 2010 Observer Ethical Award in Conservation, and had a three year residency at ZSL London Zoo. It has attracted world-renowned insect experts as well as artists, such as Bob and Roberta Smith, and comedians, most notably Robyn Hitchcock, Robin Ince and Stewart Lee (who mentions his involvement in his stand-up act "41st Best Stand-up Ever").

Background Pestival is the brainchild of Bridget Nicholls. She came up with the idea in 2004 after going to an insect film festival called FIFI in the Pyrenees (defunct).

Pestivals by year

Pestival 2006 Pestival 2006 was held at the London Wetland Centre in Barnes, London. Over 10,000 people attended. It was co-produced along with Mark Pilkington.

Pestival 2009 Pestival 2009 was held at the Southbank Centre in London. With 200,000 people attending over three days, it had over 50 free interactive events and numerous experts at the cutting edge of art and science, and was supported by over 260 volunteers. It featured Blur’s Graham Coxon, Robyn Hitchcock singing insect anthems, Robin Ince’s Bee Comedy Night, an interspecies choir, Softroom Architects iconic Termite Pavilion, artist-in-residence Noboru Tsubaki, live mosquito swarms, Praying Mantis Kung Fu, Bob and Roberta Smith’s Mobile Brownfield Site, insect detectives, maggots who paint, a pollinator themed slow food market, and Valerie Singleton spinning her favourite insect seven inch. Chris Watson, a sound recordist who specialises in Natural History, and former member of Cabaret Voltaire provided the soundtrack to the Termite Pavilion as well as creating an evening called Cross Pollination that used live voice and the sound of bees. Pestival 2009 also hosted the symposium How insect are we? at ZSL London Zoo, chaired by New Scientist editor Roger Highfield. Speakers included Stanford University ant expert Deborah Gordon, artist/engineer Natalie Jeremijenko and literary critic Steven Connor.

Illustrations

Pestival Logo

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pestival

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pestival claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pestival before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pestival ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pestival

In research: Pestival appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pestival in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pestival is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Arts festivals in England, Comedy festivals in England, Insects in culture, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pestival outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pestival in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pestival means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pestival out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pestival in simple terms?

Pestival is an international arts festival dedicated to ‘the art of being an insect'. Pestival won the 2010 Observer Ethical Award in Conservation, and had a three year residency at ZSL London Zoo.

Why does Pestival matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pestival?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pestival.