Brighton and Hove Speakers Festival

About

Brighton and Hove Speakers Festival

Where bold ideas soar

Saturday 11 October 2026 | The Old Market, Hove

This October, Hove plays host to a brand-new addition to the city's cultural calendar: the Brighton and Hove Speakers Festival. Launched as an extension of the hugely successful Lewes Speakers Festival — now in its 15th year — this inaugural event brings together seven of Britain's most compelling political, literary and media voices for a single, unmissable day of conversation, argument and storytelling at The Old Market in Hove.

Running from morning until evening, the festival is built around the idea that the best ideas deserve room to breathe. Each session pairs a headline speaker with an audience Q&A, so there's space not just to listen, but to challenge, question and dig deeper into the issues shaping Britain today. Whether you come for one talk or make a full day of it, there's a rare density of intellectual firepower on this single stage.

A line-up built for argument and insight

At the heart of the day are two of British politics' most consequential — and contrasting — figures. Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader and now independent MP for Islington North, reflects on four decades in public life: from backbench rebel, to unlikely party leader, to the extraordinary 2024 election that saw him win re-election outside the party he once led. It's a personal reckoning rather than a policy pitch — a rare chance to hear him speak candidly about what surprised him, what he'd do differently, and what has kept him going.

On the other side of the political spectrum, former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt makes his own case for the country's future, arguing that Britain's genuine strengths — in technology, financial services and world-class universities — can be harnessed for a new era of growth, drawing on his years at the centre of government under two different departments of state.

Elsewhere on the bill, bestselling author Jung Chang, whose book Wild Swans introduced millions of readers to modern Chinese history, returns with Fly, Wild Swans — a deeply personal account of her family's story, and China's, as the nation has transformed under Xi Jinping.

Journalist and author John Kampfner brings a global perspective with Braver New World, exploring ten countries that have found the courage to solve problems Britain has stopped believing it can fix — from Taiwanese healthcare to Finnish education. And Sam Freedman, former adviser to Michael Gove and a Financial Times columnist, turns his focus inward with Failed State, a sharp diagnosis of why Britain's institutions so often fail to deliver — and what might be done to fix them.

Local politics gets its moment too, with Rachel Millward, who made the leap from founding an international film festival to co-leading a district council, reflecting on that unlikely journey and what the creative industries can teach public life about leadership and community.

And in one of the day's most timely sessions, Peter Kyle MP, former Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, sits down with AI expert Dr Fola Yahaya to ask whether artificial intelligence represents a threat, a tool, or something altogether more transformative — and how ordinary people and businesses can prepare for what's coming.

A festival with a track record

The Brighton and Hove Speakers Festival draws directly on the model and reputation of the Lewes Speakers Festival, which has spent 15 years bringing major authors, politicians and thinkers to Sussex audiences. This new event brings that same spirit — intimate venues, big names, and genuine audience engagement — to Hove for the first time.

Getting there and tickets

The Old Market is an intimate, atmospheric venue in the heart of Hove, ideally suited to conversations that reward proper attention. Tickets can be booked individually per session or across the full day, giving visitors the flexibility to build their own festival experience.