◼️ Tom⇒maths: June 2026

Maths at the Big Bang Fair: Everywhere and Nowhere

I've just got back from 2026's Big Bang Fair at the NEC in Birmingham, having last attended in 2024. On both occasions my attendance was as a volunteer for an organisation whose name I won't mention here because I want it to be clear that these are my thoughts rather than theirs. This year, I left feeling thoughtful. In contrast, my experience in 2024 left me frustrated enough to decline an invitation to return in 2025. To introduce the source of that frustration, I invite you to play a game of 'spot the difference':

Side-by-side comparison of two Big Bang Fair promotional lanyards, labelled “2024” and “2026” in large purple text. Both feature the same pale blue design with a smiling young woman in a turquoise shirt with oversized white polka dots, looking upwards with an expression of excitement. The main slogan reads “REDEFINE THE FUTURE WITH…”, but the wording beneath has changed: the 2024 version says “Science, Engineering & Technology”, while the 2026 version says “Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths”. Aside from minor layout adjustments and a thumb partly covering the top edge of the 2026 lanyard, the designs are nearly identical. The image highlights a shift from the familiar STEM expansion of “Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths” to the less common ordering used in the earlier version.

Spot the difference: lanyards from The Big Bang Fair 2024 (left) and 2026 (right)

The return of the "M" to Big Bang's branding was encouraging. But after three days at the fair, I came away wondering whether mathematics had really returned in any meaningful sense. Maths was everywhere at the event, yet almost nowhere was it recognised as maths.