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City’s innovation hubs Open Doors for Northern Tech Summit Fringe

by Claire Fletcher

The Open Doors Innovation Festival offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Sheffield’s most exciting innovators.

Sheffield is opening its doors to the public for a city-centre-wide festival celebrating the groundbreaking ideas, technology, and people shaping the region’s future. On Tuesday 20 October 2026, the inaugural Open Doors Innovation Festival will officially launch across Sheffield Innovation Spine, giving residents, students, and workers behind-the-scenes access to the city centre’s specialist innovation spaces and the people that bring them to life. 

Open Doors is part of the Northern Tech Summit Fringe programme, with Sheffield Innovation Spine acting as the official fringe partner for the Summit. Functioning much like a classic ‘Open Studios’ or ‘Open Gardens’ event, Open Doors invites people with curious minds to step inside seven landmark venues. Visitors will meet the scientists, student entrepreneurs, technical experts, and deep-tech founders solving real-world challenges right here in South Yorkshire.

A Trail of immersive experiences and hands-on demos

Throughout the day, participants can follow an interactive walking route using the official event app, unlocking exclusive stories from Sheffield’s innovators and collecting leaderboard points along the way.

Venue highlights include:

  • Sheffield Technology Parks (Cooper Building): Try out groundbreaking tech in the demo space with startups including an indie games studio and an app built for remote workers in need of spaces to Settl… Explore labs housing early-stage BioTech companies defining sustainable solutions for the beauty industry, plus a startup with the ambition to digitally map every single tree on the planet.
  • Sheffield Hallam University (Strines Building): Step inside the 360-degree ‘Igloo’ immersive environment to experience place-inspired films, and tour the 144-camera photogrammetry suite used to create 3D models for gaming, fashion, and biomechanics.
  • Electric Works: Meet local tech entrepreneurs and business advisers—and experience the venue’s famous three-storey helter-skelter slide, known locally as “7 seconds of pure exhilaration”.
  • Royal Academy of Engineering (UKSE Innovation Centre): Meet Dr Rachel Smith, Senior Enterprise Manager, to learn how national engineering networks support local innovators building global, green and growing businesses.
  • University of Sheffield (Ella Armitage & Engineering Heartspace): Explore the Emerge Startup Studio product showcase, step inside the Siemens Digital Innovation Zone “living lab,” and help test next-generation products spinning out of the university.
  • Pennine Five: Tour deep-tech labs, get live product demos from scale-ups like Exciting Instruments and FourJaw, record a Vox Pop in the podcast studio, and take in panoramic city views from the top of Block One.

Ecosystem partner of Sheffield Digital, Sheffield Technology Parks, is opening up some of its labs and offices, as well as inviting visitors to get involved with product demos.

“We can’t wait to open our doors to the public and showcase the science and tech innovations that are taking place right on their doorstep,” said Tom Wolfenden, CEO at Sheffield Technology Parks. “In this building – that many people walk past every day – we are housing scientists, inventors, entrepreneurs and researchers progressing in vital areas of ClimateTech, HealthTech, EdTech and so much more.

“Whether you’re visiting, studying here, living or working in the city – if you’re curious about Sheffield’s startup culture, or want to see first-hand the break-through inventions developing right here, this festival is for you.”

Get involved…and stand a chance of winning £100

If you’re planning to explore the festival, download the Spine Guide app and navigate to Open Doors before you arrive and get ready to take on the trail. It is live on Android and coming soon on iOS.

Leaderboard participants that are over 16 and ‘opt in’ will be entered into a prize draw, with one lucky Open Doors festival-goer winning £100 in vouchers to spend at Sheffield city-centre hospitality venues and retail stores – a prize generously donated by BID.

Visit sheffieldinnovationspine.com/open-doors for more details.