Sneak peek: Lincoln Cathedral goes ‘Back to the Future’ for Spark! Engineering fest

Final touches are being added to a Lincoln Catherdal festival celebrating the city’s engineering heritage, with the theme of ‘Back to the Future’, starting tomorrow.

Spark! Engineering Festival 2017, held from May 5 to 7 celebrates Lincolnshire’s pioneering excellence spanning centuries and the world-beating engineering businesses here in the county today.

Check out the behind-the-scenes action at the cathedral on the day before the festival sparks to life.:

James Pinchbeck, local businessman and organiser of Spark! Festival said: “Spark! Festival is a biannual event, and this is the third one. Not only do we want to promote Lincoln and Lincolnshire’s engineering past, but also to look at the future and our world record achievements.

“For example, we have the Ruston-Hornsby car, one of the few left in existence was made in Lincoln, and also the Delorean from Back To The Future which is the star of this festival.

“Its a diverse mix of historical context and also exciting new applied engineering and technology.

“The special thing about this festival is reaching the community and what we’re trying to do is promote engineering as a career for younger people.

“May 5 will be Schools Day for the festival, and there will be special activities for year 11 and 12 children, and introduce them to engineering and careers in engineering.

“Another special thing about SPARK! is that we give people the opportunity to see things you can’t normally see around Lincoln. The public gets access to engineering in the 21st century.”

“My favourite exhibition at the festival would be a mix of the virtual reality corner, which is where we learn about robots and how we use them, and also the BRM 1958 Formula 1 Grand Prix car.”

Other exciting additions include The Monowheel Warhouse, which is a Guinness World Record holder for the fastest mono wheel motorcycle, the Ruston-Hornsby car which was produced by a Lincoln firm between 1919 and 1924, The “Venture” steam engine which was build in Lincoln in 1914 by William Foster and Co and contraptions, costumes and props from the Lincoln Steampunk Society.

Admission is free for all.

Visit the Spark Lincoln website for full details of what’s on, who’s exhibiting, and a gallery of previous events.