Tickets are now on sale for the 2025 Malvern Festival of Ideas.
Featuring leading figures from academia, politics, activism and entertainment, the programme also includes a young people and family programme of education, storytelling, art and science.
The weekend will be opened by acclaimed author, classicist and comedian, Natalie Haynes, for an electrifying one-woman show. Few writers today have reshaped our view of the ancient Greek myths more than revered bestselling author Natalie Haynes. Her session, Divine Might, is a refreshing take on the legends and stories we thought we knew.
Saturday’s programme opens with award-winning Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, Michael Wooldridge, who will review what is generative AI and how is it different, and ask why generative AI has taken off now. He will look at capabilities of generative AI now, and how they will evolve, and the implications for all of us.
Polly Toynbee and David Walker benchmark the country’s progress on that pathway towards a much more productive, fairer, cleaner, greener, healthier and more contented UK in The only way is up.
In Human Rights: The Case for the Defence, Baroness Brenda Hale, former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, and Baroness Shami Chakrabarti provide an indispensable guide to the law and logic underpinning human dignity and universal freedoms. They will engage both sceptics and supporters, equipping believers in the battle of ideas and persuading doubters to think again. For human rights to survive, they must be far better understood by everyone.
In Who do you REALLY think you are? scientist, broadcaster and author, Adam Rutherford will take his genetics shears and history axe, and pollard, prune and chop down some of these trees, and plant much better ones. The whole of life on Earth is a tangled bank, and he guarantees that in this talk, you will discover your Royal heritage!
History is now front-page news, contested as never before. Statues have fallen and the reputations of great men called into question. In Saturday’s closing session, History and the History Wars, Professor David Olusoga examines the causes of the ‘history wars’ and asks where they might lead us.
There is a full range of activities for young people, aimed at specific age groups, as well as family sessions. These include Festival favourite, the writer and illustrator Will Hughes who will show you how to come up with a character based on a creature you might find in the treetops or caves of an enormous rainforest, and then how to write a story all about them.
In Elephant in the Art Room Rosemary Webb leads an art and craft session for children on an elephant theme. She also leads the games session, Not Irrelephant, where you can learn fun elephant facts through games including ‘Top Trunks’, Pass the Elephant, and the Completely Irrelephant Festival 2025 Board Game.
In The future ain’t what it used to be guitar physicist, Dr Mark Lewney, presents ‘a history of the future’, beginning with films such as 2001 Space Odyssey and Back To The Future 2. Mark will explain in simple terms what chaos theory and quantum physics is, and how these mind-blowing theories prevent us from predicting everyday life.
The session Spectral Strokes: Unveiling the World of The Sad Ghost Club Lize Meddings, the brilliant graphic novelist behind The Sad Ghost Club, guides you through a minifold zine workshop. Discover the magic of comics, explore your creativity, and perhaps even find a friendly spectral companion along the way.
There is also a programme for school-age children with best-selling author, Christopher Edge, who will give a high energy, interactive presentation about his books with quizzes, props, fun facts, and demonstrations of some of the real-life science behind the stories in Cosmic Adventures for Curious Minds.
Sunday’s programme begins with Senthorun Raj from Manchester Law School who explores the different ways lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, intersex, queer, and asexual people around the world are building communities to protest legal exclusions, social violence, and hostile politics.
The writers of The Daily Tism, Sara Gibbs and Elsa Williams, discuss punching inwards – how own-voices writers mine their own lives for comedy. Discussions include how to target your jokes, your unique perspective and the power that comes from making light of your own life. Sara Gibbs is a British comedy script writer and autism advocate
Classical scholar, ancient historian and presenter, Michael Scott presents X Marks the Spot with stories behind archaeological exploration and discovery
Sam Fowles and Grace Blakeley’s exploration of democracy’s fragility reminds us that our civic responsibilities extend beyond the ballot box.
Sunday concludes with writer and musician Jade Cuttle in Muddied Tales, with readings from her poetic memoir book Silthood, exploring ancient connections between soil and self.
Malvern Festival of Ideas takes place 7-9 March 2025. Tickets and further details of the programme are available from the website www.malvernfestivalofideas.org.uk or email [email protected] or telephone 01684 565708.
