Name: NI Science Festival
Start: 2025-02-12T10:00
End: 2025-02-23T16:00
Location: Hillsborough Castle

Celebrating 10 years of inspiring the future

Skip the event ticket details and go to event summary.

When

14 - 21 February 2026

Ticketing information

All activities are free for members.

Please check each event to see if it is included in palace admission or requires a separate ticket.

Learn more

Immerse yourself in an interstellar world of scientific exploration at this year's NI Science Festival.

Discover how you, the universe and everything in between behaves. Enjoy a wide range of talks, tours and workshops, from the science of compost to behind-the-scenes conservation and so much more at Hillsborough Castle and Gardens. Don't miss out on these special, one-of-a-kind events.

A beginner’s guide to the science of compost

For beginner gardeners who want to know the science behind composting and keeping your soil healthy, the pH, texture and structure of the soil and soil organisms, find out more about the science of compost.

Hillsborough Castle’s gardeners will show you how they make compost and how to get the carbon and Nitrogen ratio just right. Learn what can be composted and how to tell when it is ready to use. As well as a guided walk through the Walled Garden, you will visit behind the scenes areas such as the compost yard and the gardeners operating base.

This is an outdoor event so please come dressed appropriately. In the event of wet weather, we will relocate to a polytunnel. Be prepared to get your hands dirty and stuck into soil and compost.

Date: Saturday 14 February and Saturday 21 February 2026

Times: 11:00 and 13:30

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: Adult £20.80 / Concession £16.60 (price includes admission to Hillsborough Castle's gardens). Members go free.

Capacity: 20

Age: 18+

Buy tickets

Behind the scenes conservation tour of Hillsborough Castle

Discover how we conserve and preserve furniture, paintings, silverware and clocks for display in the State Rooms of Hillsborough Castle. Led by Castle and Collections Manager David Orr, you will see the techniques used to care for our collections.

Visit behind the scenes rooms not on the regular tours and meet one of our highly skilled specialists.

Dates & times: Wednesday 18 February (13:30) and Thursday 19 February (13:30)

Duration: 90 minutes

Price: Adult £20.80 / Concession £16.60 (price includes admission to Hillsborough Castle's gardens). Members go free.

Capacity: 20 persons per session

Age: 10+

Buy tickets

The State Drawing Room, showing David Orr (Castle and Collections Manager) standing on scaffolding (teletower) and using a vacuum and small brush to clean an Ormolu chandelier. (Action shot.) The chandelier is suspended on gilt-metal chains, the base is cast as a central vase with candle branches. The electric candles on the chandelier are lit up.

Dick Strawbridge - In conversation at Hillsborough Castle

An informal conversation with Dick Strawbridge at Hillsborough Castle, discussing inventions and local inventors, renovating chateaus and historic buildings with sustainability in mind.

Date: Saturday 14 February 2026

Time: 19:00

Duration: 90 minutes

Price: Adult £32 / Concession £30

Capacity: 100

Ages: Suitable for families with children aged 4+

Buy tickets