Be Part of the Festival

APPLICATIONS FOR 2025 HAVE NOW CLOSED.

Would you like to present an event as part of York Festival of Ideas? Then we’d love to hear from you!

We welcome submissions from organisations, groups and companies from York and beyond*. We just ask that the event takes place within the Festival dates and relates to the theme for that particular year.

Submissions need to be received by January, with the Festival taking place in June. The deadline for internal applications is November.

The Festival audience is intergenerational, made up of people from all backgrounds and with a huge array of interests. The most successful events have broad appeal and are suitable for those with non-specialist backgrounds. Academic/specialist conferences or workshops will not be included in the programme.

*The Festival team may request references for smaller organisations who are new to the Festival. Inclusion of events in the Festival schedule is at the discretion of the Festival Team. We do not take applications from unaffiliated individuals.

What York Festival of Ideas can do for you

Being part of York Festival of Ideas can help raise the profile of your organisation or event by:

  • Providing access to Festival audiences - in 2024, the Festival attracted an audience of over 58,000
  • Free marketing opportunities through the Festival brochure, website and social media
  • Festival branding for use on/in addition to your own marketing materials

What you need to do

  • Contact the Festival team via email to access an online event submission form
  • Discuss with the Festival team when you might want to schedule your event, to avoid clashes with key events and/or to help programme around complementary events
  • Book a venue
  • Book a speaker/performer/equipment
  • Arrange any support, such as audio-visual equipment, security, catering - whatever you specifically need to run your event
  • Arrange ticketing
  • Make arrangements for tickets to be checked on the door of the event
  • Market your event(s) via your own channels and link to the Festival website and social media. The Festival is a partnership and the more all partners can help to market it, the more successful it is for everyone!

Funding 

York Festival of Ideas relies entirely on sponsorship to pay for running costs and, therefore, unfortunately cannot provide any money for the running of events. 

University of York community-led events

If you're a University of York staff member or student, find out more about research-focused events for the Festival. 

Want to know more?

Contact the Festival team via email.

Please note:

  • The inclusion of events in the Festival schedule is at the discretion of the Festival Team.
  • While the Festival is an advocate of free speech, it will not accept submissions for events that seek to cause offence to any individuals or groups or provoke racial or religious tension.