It's time for battle...

The Battle of Ideas festival returns in 2024, where free speech is allowed - no ifs, and no buts. BUY YOUR TICKETS AND JOIN US.

Early-bird tickets are now available for the Battle of Ideas festival 2024, which will take place at Church House, Westminster on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October. Get your tickets here.

We live in turbulent times. In 2024, citizens will head to the ballot box in over 40 countries. From the UK and US to India, Iran, Russia and South Africa, the results of what the Guardian called ‘democracy’s Super Bowl’ will shape the global political landscape at a time of great tension. And yet, it feels like many world leaders have few ideas about how to resolve current problems - let alone any they are prepared to firmly commit to - and, consequently, would rather do anything than engage with the electorate.

In that sense, the Battle of Ideas festival 2024 is more important than ever: attended by thousands, with hundreds of speakers, where the ideas can be presented, argued over and put to the test. The Battle is the place where the big debates of our time genuinely become the property of the public.  

It’s still anyone’s guess when the UK General Election will be. While the Conservatives are hoping to pull a rabbit out of a small boat and demonstrate some success with their immigration plans, the Labour Party seems to be in the process of managing expectations, by U-turning on its previous big election promises. Scandals, closures and mismanagement have plagued everything from the NHS to the railways and the Post Office. From housing to energy costs, food security to transport and infrastructure, the UK remains in crisis mode. This is an opportunity to ask what we need to do to effect change.

When we last gathered in Church House in Westminster, four months ago, for the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, Hamas’s pogrom on 7 October had just taken place. Since then, tensions in the Middle East have escalated, from conflicts breaking out between the Houthis and the West to worsening relations with Iran and ratcheting tensions between Hezbollah and the Israelis. Now questions are now being asked about an ‘exit plan’, with demands for a ceasefire looking increasingly impossible to fulfil.

Elsewhere war continues to rage in Europe - with the Russian invasion of Ukraine about to enter its third year (13th, if counting the occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol), with the challenges of war - from the supply of military aid to shortages in grain and fuel – shaking the foundations of Western commitments. Throw in speculation on whether China will invade Taiwan and the wider impact of political change in Latin America, this all suggests there’s much to debate on the future of geopolitics at a time of rising tensions and decreasing international cooperation.

Green issues are set to dominate the European polls, with farmers and agricultural workers taking to the streets with tractors loaded with manure to protest EU and national directives on everything from nitrates to animal husbandry. Net Zero, while still lauded by politicians at international conferences, seems to be taking a battering domestically - with parties coming to realise that climate-change policy doesn’t always go down well with voters during a cost-of-living crisis.

Outside of parliamentary politics, a lot of change is happening. The battlegrounds of the gender wars and free-speech issues have seen some victories, with open discussion about everything from fair play in sport to the right to protest on the street or debate online now commonplace. No longer can anyone make the ‘nothing to see here’ argument about freedom of speech. The threats to free expression on an institutional and individual level are clear - we now must decide how to win those fights.

An interview with Battle of Ideas festival attendees, taken by Liam Deacon

While many speculate that voters will tune out and switch off from politics altogether, many others are desperate to engage with political life and seek new solutions. So while the terrible injustices of the Post Office scandal betrays how ordinary people are ignored and even abused by those in positions of power, at the same time, from ULEZ and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to the progressive activists pushing gender and race ideologies in institutions, the public is searching for new ways to fight back.

But we cannot let fatalism take hold - this is where the Battle of Ideas festival comes in. On the 19 & 20 October 2024, we will come back together for our nineteenth festival, bringing speakers, debaters and campaigners under the roof of Church House, Westminster. We are proud to be the home for free thinkers, where ideas are put to the test in over 100+ debates on everything from the economy to science and tech, the arts to the environment with discussions on books, issues, music and the big political issues of the day.

Programming the festival for this year will be a challenge - events seem to move at lightning speed. But while we might live in turbulent times, we also have the chance to shape and change the kind of society we wish to live in. To do that, we must come together.

So join us - click the link below for more information about ticket prices and opportunities to volunteer (see below). We’ll see you there.

Early-bird tickets are now available for the Battle of Ideas festival 2024, which will take place at Church House, Westminster on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October.

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VOLUNTEER AT THE BATTLE OF IDEAS FESTIVAL FOR FREE TICKETS

With thousands of attendees, hundreds of speakers and over a hundred debates over two days, we need a team of enthusiastic and committed volunteers to support us for the Battle of Ideas festival 2024.

There is no age limit or qualification requirements for volunteering with us – you just have to have a passion for free speech and public debate!