Festivals: Open Cambridge is a fascinating 10-day free festival this month

Join in the celebrations of our city’s heritage, community and history in the 10-day free festival, Open Cambridge, which features 100 walks, talks, demos, exhibitions and tours. Louise Cummings selects five fascinating events

*Senate House tours

Fancy a peek inside one of Cambridge’s most famous buildings? Then enjoy the rare opportunity to visit the Grade 1 listed neo-classical Senate House, which was originally built in 1722 to conduct University business. Taking place September 15.

*Back to the Bronze Age

Whittlesey is home to one of the best-preserved Bronze Age settlements ever discovered in the UK. Excavated in 2015, archaeologists uncovered the remains of stilted roundhouses built over a river channel that burnt down in a catastrophic fire 3,000 years ago, plus thousands of artefacts, including astonishingly well-preserved textiles, tools, weapons. Join Chris Wakefield from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit to discover tales from the settlement in Life in the Bronze Age: Excavating Must Farm on September 13.

*Sustainability showcase

Learn how to make your home more eco-conscious by attending a presentation and tour on the Entopia Building - the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership’s (CISL) ultra-sustainable home, a world-leading example of a ‘deep green’ retrofit. On the same day (September 9) visit Eddington for a family friendly sustainability event featuring wildlife tours, toy swaps, insightful talks, green samples and a pedal-powered buskers set.

*Douglas Adams appreciation

Head to St John’s College to see a bonkers world come to glorious life in Improbabilities: A Douglas Adams Exhibition, September, 15 -16. Celebrating the publication of *42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams*, the showcase will cater to those new to Adams as well as to the ‘hoopy froods’ already accustomed to his musings.

*Uncovering artefacts

Back by popular demand is the guided tour of Bottisham Air Museum, September 16, a chance to discover a Second World War airfield, its various artefacts and personal stories of from those based at the airfield (which included the Royal Air Force, United States 8th Army Air Force and Belgian Air Forces).

Open Cambridge take place September 8 - 17. Find out more and book your place at opencambridge.cam.ac.uk