The Festival Programme began in 2015. At the end of a long day visiting CERN, Real World CEO Mike Large was having a beer on the CERN terrace with Connie Potter and Chris Thomas from CERN and Roger Jones from Lancaster University.
Mike, overseeing the WOMAD music festivals, felt that the WOMAD UK audience would love to hear about some of the science going on at CERN.
The locals were not convinced – “why would people in the middle of the countryside, faced with a programme of music, books, dance and well-being want to listen to talks on science?” – but Mike was confident – his WOMAD audience were curious, eager to always learn more.
The initial concept of the Physics Pavilion evolved into the first World of Physics through a collaboration between CERN, WOMAD, and Lancaster University.