Battle of Ideas festival 2025: let Battle commence!

This year, we celebrate 20 years of our festival - as ever with the motto FREE SPEECH ALLOWED. Join us this weekend in Westminster at the best place for open, free and frank debate.

In just a few hours, thousands of you will be joining us in Church House in Westminster for a weekend of free speech and open debate at the Battle of Ideas festival.

Thank you to everyone who has booked their ticket - there are still tickets available to buy on the door. That’s thanks to the fact that we’ve expanded, with sessions on Saturday also taking place at The Abbey Centre, across the road from Church House on Great Smith Street. You can check out our programme here, and read our festival brochure with the full timetable and information on special events.

There are tickets to suit everyone, with substantial discounts for students, school pupiles and concessions.

There is so much to talk about - from the implications of the ceasefire in Gaza to Britain’s economic future, the state of the British state to what’s going on in schools, the arts, technology, science and more.

Come along, say hello and get stuck in. We are proud to be the home for freedom fighters, with conversations for the public, with the public, in public. See you in the morning.

The Battle of Ideas festival has 400 speakers on 100+ debates over 48 hours, with 3,000+ attendees.

Check out our Keynote debates that tackles many of the biggest issues of our time:

Can we fix the dysfunctional state? / Who’s afraid of the populist revolt? / An island of strangers? Immigration and integration / Controlling the narrative? / Are patriotism and the nation state back? / Will DEI ever DIE? / We need to talk about ‘genocide’ / Europe’s free-speech crisis: hype or reality?

Explore the debates coming in our numerous festival strands, including:

Politics / Free Speech / Battle for the Economy / Battle for the Classroom / Women’s Freedom / Letters on Liberty / Arts & Culture / International affairs / University challenges / Law and disorder / Battle Book Club / Barriers to growth / Literature

We also have a host of Podcasts Live, including

The Lesbian Project Podcast: LIVE – Lesbian lives and beyond / The spiked podcast: Live – Latest in politics, free speech and the culture war / The Booking Club with Jack Aldane – Kafka’s The Trial, 100 years on / Spectator’s Americano, the latest from Trump’s America / UnHerd TV with Freddie Sayers – end of the gay rights revolution? / Planet Normal – Views from beyond the bubble / This Isn’t Working – battling the woke workplace / The Thought Police – Free thinking journalism with Mike Graham and Kevin O’Sullivan / Last Orders – the latest nanny state news / Arts First – are the arts too politicised?