Live snakes and spiders, land speed car demonstrations and stands investigating how dirty your hands really are offered merely a taster of what will be on offer when the British Science Festival starts this weekend.

The University of Bradford hosted the festival’s preview yesterday ahead of Saturday’s opening of Europe’s largest and most high-profile public science event, which will take place over six days in the district.

School children visited the university yesterday to make planets and listen to live music from educational group Amoeba to Zebra, while the bravest were able to handle snakes and even a tarantula.

Leaders of the university, Bradford College, Bradford Council and the National Media Museum were on hand to discuss what will be on offer and what they hope the festival will achieve.

Sue Kershaw, the university’s deputy vice-chancellor, said she hoped the event, expected to attract 50,000 visitors during the week, would raise the awareness of science education throughout the district.

She said: “If you can make science fun and interesting and if you can do that in Bradford I think that will be amazing.

“From a university perspective, clearly it’s about showcasing our academic work, but it’s also about raising the aspirations, maybe of the general public and life-long learners, that they can go on and study science and enjoy it.

“And finally I think it’s about putting Bradford on the map.

“People generally around the country don’t know a lot about Bradford and I think there’s some fantastic things here in the city, so it’s about raising the awareness of that.

“We feel this festival should be informal and lighthearted but with a serious base behind it.”

Events for children will include BBC One’s Bang Goes the Theory roadshow in Centenary Square, and Science in Action, a family fun weekend at the university.

Meanwhile, events for adults include Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ account of the extremes faced in global exploration, while one of television’s most instantly recognisable scientists, Lord Robert Winston, will discuss why some brilliant innovations could have actually also been pretty bad ideas.

Throughout the week a range of announcements of national and international importance are expected to be made, while everyone in the district should be able to find something of interest among nearly 300 events taking place.

Councillor David Green, Bradford Council’s executive member for regeneration and culture, said he hoped the festival would benefit the city in the short-term through boosting the economy with the number of visitors it attracts, as well as raising the profile across the world through the media attention it hopes to gain.

He said: “Longer term I hope the festival being here will actually allow more people to investigate the opportunities available to them either in terms of education or their business, the science and technology can provide to them and that we can bring academia and the economy closer together to help take forward the regeneration of Bradford.

“We have got things like the technology centre up in Saltaire and of course we have got people like Pace, but there’s also a lot of smaller firms and manufacturers that are using technology to help support and build their business.

“So what the festival may well enable us to do is to highlight the great work that is already going on as well as taking us forward into the future.”

Speaking at the event yesterday Kath Oldale, vice-principal for curriculum and quality at Bradford College, recalled being inspired when visiting a British Science Festival held in the south of England.

She said the college would be starting the festival with a range of activities as part of the Big Family Weekend this Saturday and Sunday which will be held throughout the city.

Colin Philpott, director of the National Media Museum, told the Telegraph & Argus he was excited about the events on offer to inspire people in Bradford, as well as the opportunities the intense media interest the festival should bring to the city.

He said: “Previously we would see a lot in the national papers about things that are announced and discussed and hopefully that will happen with the festival in Bradford, which is all good news for Bradford.

“If Bradford gets associated in the national mind with interesting debates and positive developments in science, I think that will help subliminally to raise Bradford’s profile in a positive way.

“We always say the Media Museum is both an art and a science museum.

“We are obviously interested in the artistic side of photography, film and other media but we are also interested in the technology.

“If you go to the museum it is partly a technology story and it’s partly an artistic story.”

For full details of events go to britishsciencefestival.org