What’s on at the National Science and Media Museum at the start of 2026

The National Science and Media Museum has announced an exciting programme of events, film screenings and exhibitions for the beginning of 2026. Highlights include the return of the popular Yorkshire Games Festival during February, a BBC Writers event, and a packed schedule of family activities as part of British Science Week.

Also included in the programme are unmissable seasons at Pictureville Cinema, as well last chances to see popular exhibitions, with the start of the year offering something for visitors of all ages.

Yorkshire Games Festival returns

11–22 February 2026 

The Yorkshire Games Festival will return to the museum from 11–22 February. Between 14 and 22 February, the museum will be hosting a fun-filled half term exploring all things gamingl, with hands on activities, workshops and experiences for all ages.

Industry-focused Game Talks will also take place on the 11 and 12 February, featuring talks from leading voices in the gaming industry, as well as networking opportunities for aspiring and early careers games professionals.

More details on this year’s Yorkshire Games Festival can be found on the  website: Yorkshire Games Festival 2026.

Last chance to see: Living Dots: Nature, People and Place

Closes 1 February 2026

Experience Living Dots: Nature, People and Place before the exhibition closes on Sunday 1 February. Living Dots takes real Born in Bradford data and transforms it into an interactive journey to explore the impact of local green spaces. This data forms part of a 3D artwork, transformed into glowing data points representing real insights from the community, emphasising the collective power of this information. 

Visitors are also invited to share their own thoughts on wellbeing and green spaces, contributing to an evolving data set, highlighting the power of simple data to help us understand one another and make positive change in the future. 

Living Dots: Nature, People and Place is included in free museum admission, more details can be found on the website: Bradford Science Festival returns this October half-term.

YOU:MATTER extended due to popular demand

Closes 22 March 2026

The museum’s most cutting-edge digital experience yet, YOU:MATTER, will remain open until 22 March. Created by world-renowned artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast for Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, YOU:MATTER takes visitors on a journey of wonder to discover their connection to the natural world. The experience blends art, science and creative technologies to make the invisible connections binding us to the universe visible. 
Tickets for YOU:MATTER are pay as you feel, starting at £2, and can be booked on the website: YOU:MATTER.

British Science Week Family Day

14 March 2026

Families can enjoy a free Family Day on Saturday 14 March as part of British Science Week, celebrating the museum’s Sound and Vision galleries. The theme of this year’s British Science Week is “curiosity”, with the day featuring opportunities to explore the stories and science behind 200 years of media history through creative, hands-on activities for all ages..

More information on the British Science Week family day can be found on the website.

BBC Writers: Write Across Bradford event

9 February 2026

The National Science and Media Museum’s Pictureville Cinema will host the official launch of BBC Writers: Write Across Bradford, an exciting new initiative designed to support and celebrate new writers in the Bradford District. The event is an opportunity to hear more about the project, meet the BBC Writers team and connect with fellow creatives, to network and find out about upcoming opportunities for emerging and established writers.
More details and free tickets can be found on the website: BBC Writers: Write Across Bradford Launch Event.

Talking Hitchcock Presents: Four Seasons of Hitchcock at Pictureville Cinema

7 and 14 March 2026

Writer, speaker, curator and podcaster Rebecca McCallum returns to Pictureville to present exclusive cinematic event Four Seasons of Hitchcock. The bespoke programme includes four unforgettable titles from across legendary director Alfred Hitchcock’s filmography. Beginning with the Silent Era, the event will open with a screening of The Lodger (1927) and continue with espionage epic The 39 Steps (1935). The following week will see a screening of the celebrated Rear Window (1954) and conclude with controversial Frenzy (1972). Each film will also feature a special focused introduction from Rebecca McCallum.

More information and tickets for Four Seasons of Hitchcock can be found on Pictureville’s website: Talking Hitchcock Presents: Four Seasons of Hitchcock.

Pictureville Cinema highlights

Pictureville Cinema will continue to host a wide‑ranging programme at the start of 2026, with highly anticipated awards contenders alongside classic and cult cinema, as well as regular accessible and reduced‑price screenings as part of Pictureville’s ongoing commitment to making cinema accessible for all.

Early 2026 at Pictureville includes special IMAX screenings of Wuthering Heights, giving audiences the chance to experience Emily Brontë’s classic story on one of the UK’s largest screens. Alongside this, the programme features screenings of major awards contenders Marty Supreme (2025) and Hamnet (2025), as well as Mr Vengeance, a Park Chan‑Wook retrospective, and the return of event cinema in the form of The Royal Ballet titles Woolf Works (2026) and Giselle (2026), plus National Theatre Live productions of Hamlet (2026) and The Audience (2026).

Weekly Kids’ Club screenings will continue to take place every Saturday and Sunday morning, at the reduced price of just £3 per ticket. 
More information about screenings and tickets can be found on Pictureville’s website.