Olivia Bentley joins LIFI26 as festival launches LIFI Futures, a new strand for young Leeds

Leeds International Festival of Ideas (LIFI) is one month away, returning to Leeds Playhouse from Tuesday 6 to Saturday 10 October 2026 with five days of talks, debates and live events exploring the ideas shaping our world.

The countdown begins with two announcements: new voices joining Saturday’s Are Kids Still Part of the Plan?, and the launch of LIFI Futures, a significantly expanded strand for younger audiences that builds on the Young LIFI programme which debuted in 2025.

New panellists announced

TV personality and mental health advocate Olivia Bentley, best known for Made in Chelsea, joins Are Kids Still Part of the Plan? on Saturday 10 October, 2pm to 3.30pm in the Courtyard Theatre: a frank conversation about falling birth rates and the decision, delayed or declined, to become a parent.

She is joined on the panel by broadcaster Johnny I’Anson (BBC Radio 5 Live), bringing a male perspective to a conversation too often framed as a women’s issue.

Hosted by Laura Hamilton, the panel also features Dr SJ Beard, Yousra Samir Imran and Betty Mukherjee, examining the cultural, economic, scientific and emotional forces reshaping modern parenthood, from the cost of living and career pressure to fertility treatment and the value we place on freedom.

LIFI Futures: a bigger platform for young Leeds

Young LIFI launched in 2025 with a single, invitation-only schools event. For 2026 it returns bigger, broader and renamed. LIFI Futures is a four-event strand built around the questions that actually shape young people’s lives in this city. Who am I allowed to be? What happens after school? Who decides what counts as success?

Three of the four events are free and booked through schools, colleges and universities across Leeds, putting hundreds of young people in the same room as broadcasters, employers, athletes and educators, not as an audience, but as the point.

First LIFI Futures line-up revealed: How to be unapologetically you?

Growing up is hard enough without the constant pressure to look, act and live like everyone else. Between school, social media, influencers, friends and family expectations, it’s easy to start doubting who you are.

How to be unapologetically you? (Friday 9 October, 12.30pm to 2pm, Quarry Theatre) is about owning your identity, living authentically and being unapologetically confident in your own skin, because the things that make you different are the things that make you stand out. Expect honest conversations on body image, gender and sexuality, neurodiversity, disability, mental health, resilience and wellbeing.

BBC Newsround presenter Shanequa Paris hosts a panel with dancer, model and disability advocate Tasha Ghouri; NHS GP, broadcaster and wellbeing expert Dr Radha Modgil; actor and trans rights campaigner Ash Palmisciano; and former Leeds Rhinos captain and mental health campaigner Stevie Ward.

The other questions LIFI Futures is asking this year:

Why does no one talk about apprenticeships?

Wednesday 7 October, 11:30am to 12:30pm | Free in conjunction with Weightmans. University isn’t the only route, and it never was. Apprenticeships, on-the-job training and the roads less advertised are put in front of the young people making those choices right now, by the people who took them and the people who hire.

What no one told you about getting a job

Thursday 8 October, 11am to 12pm | Free in conjunction with Luminate Education Group. One in eight young people in the UK is not in education, employment or training. Behind that statistic sit assumptions about ambition, ability and worth that rarely survive contact with the young people themselves. Major regional employers and students take the label apart.

Is maths the root of everything?

Wednesday 7 October, 12pm to 1.30pm | Courtyard Theatre | Ticketed and on sale now. The one LIFI Futures event open to everyone. Celebrating Leeds’s designation as the UK’s first City of Maths, this panel drags maths out of the exam hall and into music, disease modelling, graphic design, construction and space exploration.

Speakers for the remaining LIFI Futures events will be announced in the coming weeks.

Martin Dickson, Festival Director, said:

“Young LIFI was the best thing we added last year, and it was one event. LIFI Futures is now four events. Identity, apprenticeships, the NEET label, and maths — these are the conversations shaping what young people in Leeds think is possible for them, and they deserve the same stage, the same speakers and the same seriousness as everything else on the programme. Leeds is a city of many voices. Our younger ones are the most important for the future of this city.”

One month to go

#LIFI26 spans five days at Leeds Playhouse, opening on Tuesday 6 October with Louis Theroux in conversation and closing on Saturday 10 October with Tim Minchin. The programme also features Chris Packham CBE, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Elizabeth Day, Samira Ahmed, James O’Brien, Afua Hirsch, Roman Kemp, Harriet Harman, Denise van Outen, Rachel Riley MBE and more.

From power and identity to climate, creativity and resilience, LIFI26 is the festival’s most ambitious edition yet and several events have already sold out.

Tickets are limited and on sale now at leedsintfest.com.

Tuesday 6 October

The festival opens with a fireside chat with Louis Theroux, four decades into a career that has redefined long-form broadcasting. From far-right militias to Scientologists, porn stars to convicted criminals, Theroux has built his reputation on the quiet, stubborn act of paying attention. Expect a conversation about curiosity, conviction, and the stories we tell ourselves and each other.

Wednesday 7 October

The day begins with LIFI Futures and Is maths the root of everything? Channel 4’s Countdown number whizz Rachel Riley MBE leads a panel of experts revealing how maths turns up everywhere — from music and disease modelling to graphic design, construction and space exploration — and why it’s a powerful tool for tackling society’s biggest challenges. She’s joined by Dr Katie Chicot, Professor Ben Gaunt, Dr Ollie Halliday and Professor Catherine Noakes OBE.

In the evening, broadcaster Amy Irons hosts How Do We Talk About Suicide?, a panel featuring Andy Airey MBE of 3 Dads Walking, Roman Kemp, Donelle Lawrence of The Brave Project, Professor Rory O’Connor and Ellie Palma-Cass of Epic Hope. Positioned around conversation rather than cause, it asks how media, mates and masculinity shape the way we talk, or don’t, about one of society’s hardest subjects.

The night closes with bestselling author and podcaster Elizabeth Day in a fireside chat titled Failure Is An Option, hosted by Jamil Qureshi. A wide-ranging conversation on resilience, self-limiting beliefs, and why setbacks might be the most valuable data we ever collect.

Thursday 8 October

Strength Beyond The Silence brings together two extraordinary voices: percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie and Tasha Ghouri, hosted by Dr Hannah French. A conversation about resilience, identity, and finding strength in the spaces other people overlook.

Later, The Planet Hasn’t Stopped Burning sees naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham CBE host Dr Mya-Rose Craig and Juergen Maier CBE for a frank conversation about why the environment has slipped off the political agenda, and what it will take to put it back.

Friday 9 October

The day begins with LIFI Futures and How To Be Unapologetically You?, hosted by Shanequa Paris with Tasha Ghouri, Dr Radha Modgil, Ash Palmisciano and Stevie Ward.

In the evening, BBC cyber correspondent Joe Tidy hosts Is It Time To Switch Off Social Media?, joined by Dr Sophie Bishop, Mark Farid, Katy Leeson and Megan McKenna for a panel on the platforms shaping, and warping, modern life.

Meanwhile, What Did The 90s Really Do To Us? is a deep dive into the decade that arguably changed everything. Music journalist Miranda Sawyer hosts Harriet Harman, Judge Jules MBE, Jason McGann and Denise van Outen for a conversation on Britpop, Blair, the birth of the internet and the cultural fallout we’re still living with.

Saturday 10 October

The final day opens with Are Kids Still Part Of The Plan?, hosted by Laura Hamilton with Dr SJ Beard, Olivia Bentley, Johnny I’Anson, Yousra Samir Imran and Betty Mukherjee. Birth rates are falling fast across the developed world. This panel asks why, and what it means for the societies we’re choosing to leave behind.

In the evening, broadcaster Samira Ahmed hosts We All Belong Here, Don’t We?, joined by Afua Hirsch, Ashley James, James O’Brien and Ash Palmisciano. From identity and immigration to feminism and community, an unflinching conversation about what belonging means in a fractured Britain.

The festival closes with Tim Minchin in a fireside chat titled Creativity Among The Chaos, hosted by Larry Budd. A career-spanning conversation taking in Matilda the Musical, three decades of songwriting, and Minchin’s refreshingly clear-eyed views on living a creative life.

Tickets

Tickets for all LIFI26 events are on sale now at leedsintfest.com. LIFI newsletter subscribers get exclusive subscriber pricing on selected events. Sign up at leedsintfest.com.

LIFI26 is brought to the city by LeedsBID and Welcome to Leeds, supported by AV Matrix, City of Maths, Pinsent Masons, Weightmans and Leeds Playhouse.

A to Z of speakers

Samira Ahmed, Andy Airey MBE, Dr SJ Beard, Olivia Bentley, Dr Sophie Bishop, Larry Budd, Dr Katie Chicot, Dr Mya-Rose Craig, Elizabeth Day, Mark Farid, Dr Hannah French, Prof Ben Gaunt, Tasha Ghouri, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Ollie Halliday, Laura Hamilton, Harriet Harman, Afua Hirsch, Johnny I’Anson, Yousra Samir Imran, Amy Irons, Ashley James, Judge Jules MBE, Roman Kemp, Donelle Lawrence, Katy Leeson, Professor Juergen Maier CBE, Jason McGann, Megan McKenna, Tim Minchin, Dr Radha Modgil, Betty Mukherjee, Prof Catherine Noakes OBE, James O’Brien, Professor Rory O’Connor, Denise van Outen, Chris Packham CBE, Ellie Palma-Cass, Ash Palmisciano, Shanequa Paris, Jamil Qureshi, Rachel Riley MBE, Harriet Rose, Miranda Sawyer, Louis Theroux, Joe Tidy and Stevie Ward.