Isle of Barra & Vatersay Science Festival

17/06/2026

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

03/06/2026

How amazing 👏 🤩

🎉🌿 Folks, we are delighted to announce... We have a brand new, free, online training course - an Introduction to Sustainability! 🌿🎉

♻️ climatehebrides.learnworlds.com ♻️

We've created the course specifically for the Western Isles - there are five interactive modules, covering adaptation, waste reduction, energy, transport, and food and diet, all created in direct response to islanders’ concerns, gathered through our Climate Hub outreach projects.

The course is free, accessed from the Climate Hebrides website, and there's a CV-boosting certificate for those who complete all five modules. We hope the course will inspire island residents, organisations, and businesses to live and work more sustainably; each module offers the knowledge and tools needed to take meaningful local action.

Importantly, the course is island-led; designed and created here, using island-specific training points and featuring a host of island voices - see who you can spot!

Take a look - and please help us to spread the word!

👉 climatehebrides.learnworlds.com



📸 Hub memberships and comms officer Lucy talks some of the Western Isles Libraries Stornoway team through the new training

29/05/2026

📢 Due to having to reschedule our snorkeling sessions, we're unfortunately going to have to cancel our AGM... again! 🙈

Oops! Sorry everyone! 😅

The joys of volunteer life when you're juggling full-time jobs, family life, and trying to be superheroes on the side! 🦸‍♀️🦸‍♂️💼👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We'll get a new date arranged and shared as soon as possible. 💙

19/05/2026

Unfortunately we need to move our AGM to next weekend. Hope to see you there instead!

12/05/2026

🔬✨ Join Us for the Isle of Barra & Vatersay Science Festival AGM! ✨🔬

We’d love to see members of the community come along to our AGM on:

📅 24th May 2026
🕑 2pm
📍 Barra Children’s Centre

Whether you’ve attended events before, volunteered, or are simply curious about the festival, everyone is welcome!

Let’s keep inspiring curiosity and celebrating science together 💙

07/02/2026

Girls in Science 💙🪐🥽🥼🧬🧫🧪

20/01/2026

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly3dv1dekvo

NatureScot says it is not known why the plants grow in doughnut-shapes on the seabed.

12/01/2026

📣 Job Opportunity 📣

CnaG Officer (part-time) - Isle of Barra

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for a part-time youth development worker with Comunn na Gàidhlig.

🌟 Closes today - January 12th 🌟

Follow the link below to apply:

‘Se cothrom a tha seo a dhol an sàs aig teis mheadhan obair leasachaidh na Gàidhlig anns an raon às cudromaiche a th’ann am measg an òigridh – a’ cumail taic is brosnachadh ri luchd-labhairt ùr.

03/01/2026

🌠 Fireballs Are Coming — Tonight over Barra 🌠

Tonight, the sky above the Isle of Barra becomes a front-row seat to one of the most intense meteor showers of the year: the Quadrantids. As Earth moves through debris left behind by an ancient asteroid, up to 100 meteors per hour may streak across the sky.

Thanks to Barra’s exceptionally dark skies, low light pollution, and open Atlantic horizons, this is an ideal place to witness the science in action. Each meteor is a tiny fragment of space rock hitting our atmosphere at incredible speed, briefly ionising the air and producing brilliant flashes — some bright enough to be classed as fireballs.

🔭 Best viewing: Late tonight into the early hours
🌑 Moon: Favourable for dark conditions
📍 Where to look: Away from artificial lights, eyes adjusted to the dark
🧠 Science fact: Quadrantids are fast, dense meteoroids, which is why they often appear brighter than average
Wrap up warm, step outside, and look up — tonight, Barra meets the cosmos.

25/12/2025

Thank you to everyone who attended our 2025 Festival! 💚✨

Your enthusiasm, curiosity, and support made it a truly special celebration of science, sustainability, and community.

As we move a little closer to 2026, we’re already beginning to look ahead. Planning will soon start again for our biannual festival in 2027, and we can’t wait to bring you another inspiring, engaging, and unforgettable experience.

If you’d like to be part of the festival — as a volunteer, exhibitor, educator, performer, or partner — we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch and join us in shaping the next festival together.

Thank you for being part of our journey — we look forward to welcoming you back very soon! 🌍🔬