An introduction to Byline Festival, the festival that wants to change the world.

Byline Festival was founded by Peter Jukes and Stephen Colegrave in 2017 as a constructive response to the Referendum and Trump’s election to counter the rise of disinformation and interference in democracy and lack of veracity in the media.

It was important to us that we didn't just create a conference by another name. The aim was to launch a festival for all the senses that bought people together by including thought-provoking talks tackling the big issues of the day as well as immersive experiences, spoken word, music and comedy.

At the first festival in 2017, Carole Cadwalladr shared her investigations into Cambridge Analytica, John Cleese launched the Bad Press Awards that highlighted the short-comings of the main stream press and Salena Godden performed as the festival poet laureate. Later in the year, Byline Festival travelled to New York and was opened by Sir Harry Evans, legendary editor of the Sunday Times.

In 2018, Pussy Riot performed and the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Chris Wylie spoke. Other speakers included Tom Watson MP, Baroness Warsi, Bonnie Greer, June Sarpong and Gary Linekar with comedy from Alexei Sayle, Joanna Scanlan and Andy Hamilton.

In 2019, Pussy Riot was joined by The Feeling and Lowkey and speakers included Gina Miller, Lemn Sissay and Sanjeev Bhaskar.

By 2019 Byline Festival had grown to over 8000 attendees and we saw that it had inspired important follow up discussions in parliament and beyond. Byline Festival eventually led to us starting the Byline Times newspaper as a means of continuing the vital conversations that started at the festival.

After a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Byline Fesitval returned in 2022, but this time in historic Acklam Village in Notting Hill.

For years 2023 and 2024 Byline Festival was hosted in the breathtaking Dartington Hall in Devon, the site where the post-war Labour manifesto was penned in 1965. We celebrated landmark events there that we’ll never forget, such as the election night coverage on 4 July 2024, where we watched Labour win a landslide election for the first time in 14 years.

Since 2017, many of the key issues we were discussing at our first Byline Festival such as Russian interference, dangers to democracy and the failings of the media, have become even more relevant and in some instances come home to roost.

This year, Byline Festival will be held at Keele University. We’re thrilled to be working with a venue who is a pioneer in climate efforts.

If you come to 2025 Byline Festival you will be ahead of the curve in finding out about and discussing the big issues that are affecting all of us today and the future.