AlgoMech festival is based in Sheffield UK, a fine city of makers. Here's our local take on Sheffield, but be sure to see the Our Favourite Places website for more Sheffield culture.

Events and things to do

Other events on during/around AlgoMech time:

• 13-17th May - Sheffield Digital Festival - booting up for its first year, with a range of fringe events and day conference
• 10-18th May - Sheffield Chamber Music Festival - 25 concerts over nine days!
• 18th May - Crit-a-Öke – a free cabaret style event in Site gallery featuring live performances, projections & karaoke, blended with art criticism
• until 26th May - The Vehicle of Nature - installation by Universal Everything in the Millennium Gallery
• until 30th June - Festival of Debate - huge array of debates over the spring season including many superstars from the current affairs circuit

Spaces

• Access space – free media and fabrication lab
• The industrial museums
• Site gallery – contemporary art exhibitions, talks and events
• Abbeydale Picture House and Picture House Social - a beautiful venue, brought back to full life
• Western bank library - a University of Sheffield library which lets general members of the public in, and has a lovely view of a duckpond
• Paternoster lifts – in the Arts Tower next to Western Bank library
• Megatron, one of the more private sections of the River Sheaf
• Hackers and Makers - a hackspace in Portland Works
• DINA – digital arts and music venue
• Makers - a curio shop of with curious makers workshops
• Museums Sheffield - always something great on at Millennium Gallery, Weston Park and Graves
• Sheffield Institute of Arts - lots happening in the lovely old post office building
• Hatch - collective and arts space emerging from the old "Audacious space" hosting some strange music events
• Hope works - a rave cave of international stature
• Sheffield Print Club - Screen printing classes, and access to some interesting print mechanisms

Regular happenings

• Sensoria festival of Art and Music
• Doc/Fest – documentary and digital media festival
• Science brainwaves
• Skeptics in the Pub – Science and philosophy talks, invariably followed by lively and extensive discussion
• Sheffield Astronomical Society – keeping eyes on the skies
• Cycle Sheffield – cycling campaigns, events etc.
• Sheffield Friday Night Ride – it’s just a (cycle) ride
• Geeks in the Pub – Any and all geeks welcome, different pub each month
• Computer club electronic music + palpable nostalgia
• Open platform – people doing strange things without electricity
• Games Britannia – video games festival
• Sheffield SOUP – drink soup and crowdfund local projects in the process
• Sheffield Design Week – an annual week of events around design and architecture
• Digital Sheffield – their “platform” get togethers of digital creative and digital people, also check their events page for a digest of Sheffield tech events
• Creative mornings - monthly 20 min breakfast series for creative types such as yourself
• def shef - monthly meetup of functional programming enthusiasts, also open those who are just curious..

Local etiquette

People observe bus queues here. If you arrive at an empty bus stop and sit in the middle of the bench, people will still queue behind you, even if the stop serves multiple buses, even if this means queuing outside the bus shelter when it’s raining. When a bus approaches the bus stop, you do a polite dance with the person in front and behind, and the queue diverges.

Don’t worry if everyone (from little old ladies to burly bus drivers, irrespective of your or their gender identity/sexuality) calls you “love” (or any other form of diminutive.) Best to just go with it and start using it yourself liberally. It’s quite lovely (!) once you get used to it.

Local food

One local delicacy is the hot pork sandwich. You will be asked “everything on?”, which refers to stuffing and crackling. You might want to ask that your bread is “not dipped” in the juices. After you get asked if you want “everything on” they will then ask you if you want apple sauce as well.

As both a city of sanctuary and host to many international students, Sheffield has a wealth of excellent international cuisine. The Ozmen (and now Ozmen Extra) world supermarket is incredible for its huge range and great value, well worth a visit. If it's a curry house you're after, East and West taste and Arusuvai on Abbeydale Road are top notch.

There’s also Parkin.

Henderson’s Relish is bought in a distinctive orange and black bottle, and is the city’s very own Lea & Perrins ‘Worcester Sauce’ variant. It is typically dribbled into gravy savouries, like stews and pies, although many also have it atop cheese on toast and beans on toast. Steel City cricketer and one-time England captain Michael Vaughan claimed to have had it in his Weetabix during the TMS commentary of the 1st England vs. South Africa test 2012, although this is disgusting.

For fast food you'll find Street Food Chef serves all your burrito requirements.

For amazing coffee (with a strong New Zealand influence) it has to be Tamper. The Sellers Wheel branch does incredible food too, particularly good for breakfast.

Local beer

Abbeydale, Blue Bee, Kelham Island, Thornbridge, oh my..

Notable central pubs include The Rutland Arms (4 mins from station. Food, real ales, ‘net and comprehensive jukebox), The Devonshire Cat (bottom of Devonshire Green, 10 mins from station. Food, very wide range of international bottled ales) and the Sheffield Tap (actually in the train station, another very wide range of ales).