On its epic journey across the country, the Tour de Moon Convoy of sustainable vehicles and interactive experiences ends its journey at Pedro Youth Club, Hackney, landing at 4pm on 16 June.

Moon Convoy is a fully sustainable armada of vehicles, stopping in 13 towns and cities across the UK, features huge floats and interactive elements starting with a large rotating moon that appears and disappears at night with further interactive and ultra-violet experiences – expect cosmic transformations through live music and DJ sets, a full size replica of nine metre-long Archie The Squid who resides at The Natural History Museum, talks, film screenings, an inflatable game designed with the help of scientists at NASA SSERVI and the SETI Institute, a nine-piece Arkestra and a larger than life red telephone through which visitors can talk to the Moon.

The Tour der Moon Convoy is just one part of a travelling festival of activity that is stopping in three cities for four days, Leicester, Newcastle, and Southampton.

Tour de Moon’s creator is the creative director, artist, and filmmaker Dr. Nelly Ben Hayoun of Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios. Nelly is the founder of NASA’s International Space Orchestra and the tuition-free University of the Underground. Her large-scale projects have included collaborations with Noam Chomsky, Pussy Riot, Massive Attack and Kid Cudi to name but a few.

She is known for challenging institutions from within through events, and has done so at the United Nations, NASA and the International Astronautical Federation. Nelly’s fellow directors at Tour de Moon include Magid Magid, former Lord Mayor of Sheffield and founder of Union of Justice, Natasha Patterson, head coach at Pedro Youth Club, Dr Franck Marchis, chair of the exoplanet group at the SETI Institute, Damian Bradfield, President of WeTransfer and Adam Teskey, Manufacturing Director at The Vinyl Factory Plant.

Dr Nelly Ben Hayoun says “Our main objective of Tour de Moon is to prompt radical imagination, support pluralistic thinking so to offer alternative futures developed by and with youths. With this festival we decided to redistribute our funding and to use our platform to celebrate the nightlife sector and young adults –
demographics which have been hit especially hard by the impacts of Covid and funding cuts over the last few years.”
A key thread of Tour de Moon’s activity has been the exploding of STEAM outside of London to places around the UK. The presence of Archie the Giant Squid’s replica will also bring to life the influence that the moon has on the oceans beyond the walls of the Natural History Museum. As this will be the first time that a replica of Archie has been created, and John Ablett, curator at the Natural History Museum, said it was very exciting to have Archie as part of Tour de Moon.

“The giant squid is one of those amazing creatures that has captured the imagination of scientists and the public alike,” he said. “It is often said that we know more about the surface of the moon than the deep ocean, however as our understanding and exploration of the oceans increases this just isn’t true.

Founder Nelly Ben Hayouns says: “At first it may not seem like an obvious connection but the moon has so much influence on our lives and this is one of the many reasons for this festival, so we can build on and celebrate these connections. It then makes perfect sense for us to bring one of the rare denizens of the deep to life and we are very grateful to the Natural History Museum for allowing us to recreate Archie and introduce him to a whole new audience.”