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The Silver Ball - Planetarium or Bristol’s Icon?
20 August 2007
More than 100,000 have visited the Planetarium in Explore-At-Bristol since
it re-opened in July 2006 , At-Bristol announces today. The popular
attraction has shown nearly 3000 seasonal star shows throughout the year
with more than 630 shows fully booked.
It is definitely an achievement to cheer about, especially when many still
does not realise that the iconic and spectacular silver ball that
dominates the architecture of Millennium Square serves as the Planetarium,
says Katy McDonald, Planetarium Officer, At-Bristol.
“We are really honoured that the Planetarium is increasingly being used as
a visual icon to represent Bristol. While it becomes a key landmark for
the city, we also hope that it continues to draw interest amongst general
public in space science. Perhaps we need to start cultivating a habit
amongst the public to refer the attraction by its original name - the
Planetarium!” Adds Katy.
According to the Bristol Film Office, the Planetarium is definitely among
the top 5 most popular filming locations in the city. The office, which
issues approximately 250 film licenses a year, receives an estimate of
50-70 enquiries (per year) for filming around the Planetarium.
“The At-Bristol Planetarium has become a popular location with film crews
looking for iconic Bristol landmarks and modern architecture. Bristol Film
Office receives a large number of enquiries about filming the Planetarium
every year and its popularity is increasing all the time because it is
such an identifiable and unique part of Bristol.” Says Natalie Moore, Film
Liaison Officer, Bristol Film Office.
To mark this milestone, Explore is organising an ‘urban beach’ party in
the Millennium Square on 25 and 25 August (Saturday and Sunday). There
will be a host of outdoor activities such as BBQ, penalty shoot-out,
bungee run as well as buskers to entertain Bristol’s ‘urban beach’ goers!
On 4 October, Explore is also celebrating World Space Week and the 50th
anniversary of Sputnik with a special public lecture in the Planetarium by
acclaimed historian, Piers Bizony. Piers is also the co-author of ‘Atom’,
which is the accompaniment to the popular BBC TV series of the same name.
The Planetarium was used as the backdrop for productions including, the
Apprentice, The Truth About Love, Mistresses and Casualty.
The planetarium runs seasonal star show every quarter and it is currently
showing the summer night sky. Entry to the planetarium is free with
tickets to Explore-At-Bristol.
For press enquiries:
Mavis Choong, At-Bristol
0117 915 7152 / 0796 733 4152 /
mavis.choong@at-bristol.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
- At-Bristol (registered charity 1049954)
is a leading science centre in the UK and a major player in the
worldwide science centre movement. It aims to be a world-class science
and natural history centre that makes distinctive, valued and recognised
contributions to informal science learning and public engagement with
science - locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. A
registered charity, At-Bristol has hosted more than three million visits
and continually strives towards making science accessible to all.
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