The full star-studded line-up for the sixth edition of the Leeds International Festival of Ideas has been officially revealed today, cementing the event’s place as a major fixture on the UK’s cultural calendar.
A host of household names, including Louis Theroux, Elizabeth Day, Chris Packham CBE, and Roman Kemp, are set to descend on Leeds Playhouse for a five-day, ten-event programme running from 6th to 10th October 2026.
Renowned broadcaster Louis Theroux will open the festival on Tuesday, 6th October, with an intimate fireside chat on the Leeds Playhouse Quarry stage, reflecting on four decades of ground-breaking social commentary. The event will culminate on Saturday, 10th October, with an exclusive appearance from world-renowned musician and comedian Tim Minchin, who will discuss creative life in a chaotic world following his global success with Matilda the Musical and Groundhog Day.
Across the week, a series of curated panel discussions and fireside chats will tackle major contemporary issues. Key events on the bill include:
- Mental Health & Masculinity (7 October): Capital FM host Roman Kemp and Andy Airey MBE (3 Dads Walking) join a panel to discuss the media, friendship, and how society addresses suicide.
- Resilience & Failure (7 October): Best-selling author and How to Fail podcaster Elizabeth Day brings her highly popular conversation on setbacks and self-limiting beliefs to the city.
- Climate Change (8 October): Naturalist Chris Packham CBE hosts a panel exploring why the environment has slipped down the modern political agenda.
- Social Media Culture (9 October): TV personality Megan McKenna and BBC cyber correspondent Joe Tidy lead a debate on whether it is time to switch off social media platforms.
- Nostalgia & Culture (9 October): Music journalist Miranda Sawyer looks back at the cultural legacy of the 1990s alongside Denise van Outen and DJ Judge Jules.
- Societal Shifts (10 October): TV presenter Vicky Pattison joins a panel examining falling global birth rates, while LBC’s James O’Brien and journalist Afua Hirsch discuss identity and belonging in modern Britain.
Brought to the city by LeedsBID and Welcome to Leeds, the festival aims to bring the UK’s brightest minds to West Yorkshire for conversations found nowhere else in the country. Priority tickets will be released to newsletter subscribers tomorrow, Thursday 4 June, before the general sale opens to the public on Wednesday 10 June via the official festival website.
“Getting Louis Theroux to Leeds is a real moment for this festival and this city. He’s one of the defining broadcasters of his generation, and the kind of name LIFI has been building towards for four years. But this is a programme with serious depth beyond the headline… five days of conversation you genuinely cannot get anywhere else in the country. LIFI has always been about bringing the brightest minds to Leeds and giving the city a stage that punches above its weight. LIFI26 does exactly that.”
