With events taking place both online and in-person across city, the UK’s biggest non-partisan politics festival, The Festival of Debate, will be covering topics from clean air to neighbourhood democracy.
This year’s line-up includes huge names in the political world such as journalist and BBC presenter Sathnam Sanghera, Green Party House of Lords member Natalie Bennett and author and LBC presenter James O’Brien.
The Festival of Debate will run from 16 April to 25 May and looks to discuss and put forward potential solutions to the country’s systemic problems.
Political world such as journalist and BBC presenter Sathnam Sanghera is a key name on this year’s stellar lineup (image: Chris Durlacher)
Joe Kriss, the festival director, has expressed his excitement over the scale of this year’s festival. He said of the milestone instalment: “This year’s festival is the most ambitious we’ve ever put together, and we’re really excited about what we’ve got planned.
“We’re facing a series of intersecting crises in this country and in this city, from the cost-of-living crisis to the continuing effects of the pandemic. We’re really interested in finding solutions to those problems, helping Sheffield and the wider world transition to a more sustainable and equitable future.”
The performance poet, Hollie McNish, is taking to the stage at The Leadmill on 18 April and will be reading from her latest collection ‘Lobster: and other things I’m learning to love’.
We’re facing a series of intersecting crises in this country and in this city, from the cost-of-living crisis to the continuing effects of the pandemic. We’re really interested in finding solutions to those problems, helping Sheffield and the wider world transition to a more sustainable and equitable future.
Marianna Spring, the BBC’s first disinformation and social media correspondent, will be diving into the complicated world of conspiracy theories, online hate and fake news.
The UK’s foremost expert in public health, Sir Michael Marmot, will be holding a talk on 21 May at Millennium Gallery about the effect inequality has on health in this country and what can be done to improve it.
Poet Jackie Kay will also be performing poetry at The Leadmill on 23 May on topics ranging from decades of political activism such as feminist and LGBT+ struggles to the Black Lives Matter Movement.
Be sure to catch poet Jackie Kay at The Leadmill later this month!
After the main festival, a bonus event is taking place at Crookes Social Club with writer George Monbiot talking about his new book collaboration with Peter Hutchinson, ‘The Inivisble Doctrine’, which discusses the history of neoliberalism.
Alongside these main headliners, the festival will be host to a range of workshops, interactive sessions, and panels exploring alternative solutions to some of the country’s most pressing problems. These will include ‘Moving Towards Conscientious Consumption’ and ‘Food Waste: Whose Responsibility is it?’.
For a full guide to the 2024 programme and info on tickets, head to festivalofdebate.com.
