Ever wondered how magicians make things disappear before your eyes?

Wonder no more. Festival of the Mind, the world’s first festival of academic-city collaboration, starts on Thursday with the answer to this and many other intriguing questions!

For one night only, Sunday 23 September, a magician, a psychologist, and a magician who is also a psychologist, have teamed up to demonstrate some of the psychological techniques magicians use to amaze us. The event is called Magic and Mind.

This is just one of the awe-inspiring events taking place during the festival from 20 to 30 September.

Well over 100 members of staff are involved in festival events. To see your colleague bring alive their wonderful creative projects, meet inspiring people from the city and discover the magic of research take a look at the full programme of events.

You’ll be sure to discover something you didn’t know about the University, such as the amazing world of the Alfred Denny Museum with its stunning zoological collection.

Follow Festival of the Mind on Twitter @FestivalMind #FestivalMind or visit its Facebook page.

Professor Vanessa Toulmin, Head of Cultural Engagement and Director of the National Fairground Archive, has been the driving force and curator behind the Festival of the Mind, an innovative series of free events which are set to show everyone that attends how inspirational collaborative working can be.

Vanessa said: “Festival of the Mind is about inspiring people and bringing the magic of our research through the creativity of our partners to the people of Sheffield.”

Academics from such diverse disciplines as Nanotechnology, English, Architecture, Psychology and Biomedical Science have teamed up with artists, poets, magicians and musicians from Sheffield to create unique, thought-provoking performances, events and exhibitions designed to stimulate the mind.

The civic projects of the festival all arose from an Ideas Bazaar held at the University last year, where academics and members of the community were invited to a speed-dating style event to match proposals and ideas for projects to knowledge and expertise to make them a reality.

A day of family fun including street artists, sideshows, music, magic and storytelling will officially launch the festival on Thursday 20 September from midday to 5pm in Weston Park. Festival of the Mind events will then take place throughout the city, the centre of which will be in Barkers Pool in a beautiful 1920s cabaret-style ‘Spiegeltent’ – a large travelling tent decorated with mirrors and stained glass, one of the few left in the world following their 19th century heyday.