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Last year's community festival was enjoyed by around 3,000 families and residents

The University of Sussex is opening up its beautiful green campus to visitors with the return this summer of its free community festival.

The second-ever Sussex Community Festival will be held on Sunday 24 June 2018 from 11am-3pm.

The event will celebrate the close bonds between the University and the city while giving visitors a little taster of life on campus.

Last year’s inaugural event was a huge success, attended by around 3,000 residents and families, and organisers are hoping this year’s festival will be even bigger and better.

Vice-Chancellor Adam Tickell said: “At Sussex we’re proud to be a part of a vibrant mix of communities and cultures.

"The Community Festival is an opportunity for our neighbours, staff and students to come together and enjoy all that our campus has to offer. With academic demonstrations, children’s activities, food and music, the Community Festival line-up aims to offer something for everyone.”

Youngsters can take part in the teddy bear hospital, treasure trails, face painting, circus skills and a bouncy castle, while visitors of all ages will be able to enjoy live music performances, a campus boundary walk, a bookmaking workshop, food stalls and much, much more.

A taste of university life will be supplied with sports taster sessions, fun experiments, academic talks and guided lab tours; for football fans, there will be the opportunity to watch England’s potentially decisive second World Cup group game against Panama in the Students’ Union.

The Community Festival is one of a number of ways in which the University is seeking to strengthen its ties with the local community in 2018.

Sussex staff and students have been conducting regular street cleans around the city and the Community Ambassadors scheme resumed this month.

The scheme, run by the University’s Housing team, sees students visiting residents in certain areas of the city and talking to them about community projects in their area, as well as providing information on services offered by the University.

Free car and bicycle parking will be available on site on the day of the festival, while the campus is also easily accessible by public transport.

A full programme of all the exciting activities on offer to visitors during the day will be revealed next month.

Tickets are free; book now through Eventbrite.

For more information visit
www.sussex.ac.uk/about/community/get-involved/visit-campus/community-festival.