Big Bang Film Festival

September is when València's cultural calendar restarts after the emptiness of August, and this is one of the new arrivals: a first edition. It pairs two things that rarely share a bill, cinema and science, under the title Séptimo arte y ciencia, the seventh art and science.

What it is and when

Sessions are spread across four dates, 12, 13, 19 and 20 September, and each one opens with screenings. A first-edition festival is assembled as it goes, so the actual line-up, which films are shown, whether there are talks and what time each screening begins is published on the festival's own site, and that is the first thing to check. The ticket price is not stated here either, nor whether there is a pass covering all four days. Confirm both before travelling.

Where it is and how to get there

The venue is the Big Bang space at Carrer de Felip Valls 119. It is outside the old-town ring where most visitors stay, so if your reference points are the Cathedral and the Lonja, budget for a journey rather than a walk. València has a metro, a tram and a dense EMT bus network covering the whole city, and a ten-journey travel card costs far less than single tickets. Our guide to getting around València covers which card to buy; if you are driving, read where to park.

If the science-and-screen idea appeals

The city has two permanent versions of it. The Hemisfèric at the Ciutat de les Arts projects onto a dome, and next door the Museu de les Ciències is a hands-on science museum rather than a reading-the-labels one. Both are useful fallbacks: September in València can bring a sudden violent downpour, the gota fría, so what to do when it rains is not a hypothetical page here.