York Festival of Ideas
Welcome to York Festival of Ideas
York Festival of Ideas will return from 31 May to 13 June with a diverse programme of over 200 mostly free events designed to educate, entertain and inspire. Join us for talks by world-class speakers, performances, exhibitions, guided walks, family activities, workshops and much more. And with topics ranging from art to archaeology, history to health and politics to psychology, the Festival promises something for all ages and interests.
Look out for the programme, presented under the theme of Making Waves, going live on Friday 2 May. And in the meantime, why not sign up to our mailing list to be among the first to hear about our exciting 2025 events?
Michael Morpurgo Celebration Day
Michael Morpurgo is one of Britain’s best loved writers for children with sales of over 35 million copies.
To mark Michael’s eighth appearance at York Festival of Ideas – and his first as Patron – we’re designating Tuesday 3 June as Michael Morpurgo Celebration Day! We hope you’ll join us and embrace the opportunity to celebrate the acclaimed author’s amazing power as a writer, communicator and advocate of the arts.
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“I am hugely honoured to be invited to become Patron of York Festival of Ideas. Over the years, having the opportunity to perform and share my stories as part of a festival that enables everyone to come who wants to come, has been incredibly inspiring. York Festival of Ideas’ commitment to making ideas accessible to all by offering free events is something I would love to see happen more often. I strongly believe that there should be no barriers to ideas.'
Sir Michael Morpurgo
'I love the Festival - it's such a great way to learn about things that you don't always come across in your day to day, and the range of events and speakers is brilliant. It's particularly great being a free resource.'
Feedback from a 2024 Festival attendee