The pride and joy of Ruth Nicholls, the YRS Festival Of Code, starts up again next week. With coding opportunities for under 18s at 66 different locations across the country and beyond, there’s no reason anyone technically inclined can’t take part. Personally, I’m mentoring in a centre at Redgate Software, in Cambridge, helping 20 young coders, designers & developers find their calling, and home their skills.
The centres include an online ‘virtual’ centre, and ones in Times Square, New York, Bern, Switzerland, and Prishtina, Kosovo (that last one is in the south of Serbia, I had to look it up). There’s also loads of other centres across the country, so there’s always that’s convenient to attend.
The week is spent building apps, websites, games, and even hardware-based hacks, inventions, and other crazy contraptions, all involving open data. At the end of the week, all 1,200 contestants meet up in Birmingham, where they present their projects to expert judges, mentors, the press, and other participants. The best entries from each group will go through to the finals, where prizes are awarded for the a range of different categories. This year’s prizes haven’t been announced yet, but rumours say they include Amazon and Pimoroni gift vouchers, an awesome-looking 3D printer, a quadcopter drone, and even a McLaren F1 experience! This year’s categories include:
- Best Example of Code
- Best Example of Design
- The ‘Should Exist’ Award
- Code a Better Country
- Best in Show
- The People’s Choice
Unfortunately sign-ups for centres closed back in July, but if you’re a participant, a mentor, or a volunteer, you’ve still got time!