BATTLE OF IDEAS FESTIVAL 2025

The annual Battle of Ideas Festival, taking place on the weekend of the 18th and 19th October, features hundreds of lively debates with well-known speakers, covering all the biggest political, social and cultural questions of our time. Unlike other festivals, the Battle actively encourages interaction between panellists and the audience. As Baroness Tina Stowell says, 

‘The Battle of Ideas is fantastic because you learn so much from the audience. No other conference devotes so much of each session for the audience to question and comment on what the panellists have argued in their opening remarks. Every session is a genuine debate. That’s what makes it different: everyone who attends gets to feel involved.’ 

The spirit of free speech is the guiding ethos of the festival and, as ever, the Free Speech Union will have a prominent presence—sponsoring sessions and promoting our work with a stall where you can chat to FSU staff, pick up new merchandise and encourage friends to become members. 

FSU members can get an additional 20% discount off ticket prices and for the next month, this will be applied to the already exceptionally reasonable early bird rates. Click here and enter the Promo Code provided exclusively to FSU Members in the FSU’s Weekly Newsletter. 

See you there!