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York Festival of Ideas

York Festival of Ideas 2020 took place from 2 to 14 June under the banner of Virtual Horizons.

Calendar of events

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Inspire me...

Discovery Zone

About the Festival

Featuring world-class speakers, exhibitions, theatre, music, films, guided walks, family-friendly activities and much more, York Festival of Ideas offers a huge range of stimulating and diverse events for all ages and interests – most of them free.

Be part of the Festival

Would you like to present an event as part of York Festival of Ideas? Then we’d love to hear from you. Anyone can run an event – we just ask that it takes place within the Festival dates and relates to the Festival theme for that particular year.

Support us

Thanks to the generous support of a range of individual donors, partners, charitable foundations and business partners, York Festival of Ideas is now one of the largest free festivals of its kind in the UK.

Roadmap to Recovery: York in a post-Covid world

How can cities like York, their businesses and their residents recover from the economic and social impacts of a pandemic like Covid-19? Join us as we explore how York might play a role in a national recovery plan.

Find out more

Over 150 Free Events

The majority of Festival events are free to attend

York Culture Awards

Winner of Outstanding Cultural Festival (Large) at York Culture Awards 2017 and 2018

Book selling

Look out for book sales at many of our events

Massive variety of topics, performances etc. Something to suit all. Brilliant!!

Feedback from Festival survey 2019