With each passing year, the increasing number of summer music festivals has offered audiophiles and party-goers alike an ever-broader choice of watering holes from which to quench their thirst for music and summer sun. With each trying to stand out from the swelling crowd and show off its unique twist on the festival experience, it can be difficult to decide what is genuinely new and what is recycled. Seeking to avoid this problem, Bluedot takes forward-thinking to a whole new plane, adding science and technology into the mix at the spectacular Jodrell Bank Observatory.

Curated by the team behind the Live from Jodrell Bank events that brought the likes of Elbow, Sigur Rós and Paul Weller to the Cheshire observatory in 2012 and 2013, Bluedot took up its mantle as “an Intergalactic Festival of Music, Science, Technology & The Exploration of Space” when it debuted in 2016, with support from a few of earth’s most impressive musical representatives. Included in this category, Underworld, Jean-Michel Jarre and Dan Snaith aka Caribou are three acts considered pioneers in the world of electronic music, their place at the top of the bill for a festival of science could not have been more appropriate.

Other musical talents on offer across the three days in 2016 included a live performance from Floating Points, DJ sets from George Fitzgerald and Ben UFO, and atmospheric guitar anthems from British Sea Power to accompany the indie-dance served up by the likes of Everything Everything and Dutch Uncles. With a constellation of other acts to light up proceedings, the festival also hosts poetry, folk music and other relaxing activities in the beautiful Arboretum garden, interactive experiments and workshops in the Science Garden, and sensory immersion in the Luminarium labyrinth. Talks from the likes of Tim Peake, Tim O’Brien and  Helen Keen are held during the day, with stargazing tours at night led by an astronomic lineup of experts.

Searching for secrets of time and space makes for hungry work, and with cosmic and sonic delights ensured, Bluedot will also provide energy for its edacious explorers with its signature G’Astronomy Village and Restaurant at the End of the Universe, as well as Michelin-star pop up restaurants serving all kinds of earthly wonders.

Returning to earth from your stratospheric journey, the stunning setting of Jodrell Bank will remind you that it’s not so bad down here on the green and blue planet either.