CIfA Finds Group - Finds Fest 2026

Are you…

• an early career specialist?
• yearning to be a specialist?
• a practicing specialist who would like to help close the skills gap?

…then you need to attend Finds Fest!  

The ultimate gathering for prospective and current finds specialists. This is a joint venture between the CIfA Finds Special Interest Group and Historic England AMP. A full day event taking place on 25 March, starting with presentations from experts in their fields followed by an afternoon of finds handling , networking and a chance to ask experts advice.

Agenda
9.30 Registration, refreshments and icebreaker activity: Decide our afternoon discussion topics via post it note!
10.00 Welcome and Introduction to CIfA Finds SIG & Toolkits
10.20 Archaeology Mentoring Partnerships: An Innovative Approach to Skills Development
10.40 We’re Not Just Faffing About! An Introduction to First Aid for Finds
11.00 Refreshments (included)
11.15 Keynote Session - Structured Interview: Career Journeys in Archaeological Specialisms
12.15 Lunch (included)
13.15 Introduction to the Afternoon Session - 4 x 30minutes sessions, with option to visit the marketplace or join in a themed discussion. There will be 2 sessions where poster authors will be on hand to discuss their posters. In the marketplace you can meet the specialists, find out about their work, ask your burning questions!
16.00 Closing remarks, winner of poster competition to be announced
16.15 Event closes
 
Venue location and access information
Address: (Get directions). For full venue access information please see the M Shed access web page.

M Shed,
Princes Wharf,
Wapping Road,
Bristol,
BS1 4RN

Additional information
Price includes a sandwich lunch. Please let us know on booking any dietary restrictions or allergies you have.

Event pricing
- £50 CIfA member or Finds Group supporter
- £70 non-member (includes 1 year of Finds Group supporter membership worth £15)

Bursaries are available on request with special thanks to Historic England. For further information or to apply for a bursary, please contact groups@archaeologists.net.

Early careers poster competition
Posters from Early Careers archaeologists on new discoveries, research and methodologies will be displayed at Finds Fest. This is a great opportunity to get your work in front of a diverse audience of archaeologists working or interested in finds.
Poster proposals will be reviewed by the Finds Special Interest Group Committee. The deadline for submissions has been extended until Friday 13 March 2026.

To submit your poster send the poster title and an abstract of no more than 100 words indicating the general subject of the poster and whether this is a completed project, work in progress or a new initiative and the context of the project (eg an UG/PG dissertation, PhD research, developer-funded project, research project, independent study). By submitting a poster you agree that images of the event poster may be shared on our social media channels for promotional purposes. Simply email the information to groups@archaeologists.net.  

With special thanks to the sponsors