Leeds International Festival of Ideas - better known to most of us as LIFI - has confirmed its blockbuster line-up of speakers and performers for 2025.
Starring in the brilliant cultural event this year will be the likes of David Baddiel, Victoria Derbyshire, Vicky McClure, Caitlin Moran, Sally Wainwright and loads more.
Speakers at this year's LIFI range from hip-hop legends to comedy icons, who will take part in the packed programme of panels, talks and performances this autumn.
Taking place between 14 and 18 October, LIFI25 will touch on a wide range of subjects, including power, politics, parenthood, identity and resilience.
The festival will once again take place at Leeds Playhouse, across its Quarry and Courtyard spaces, with daytime and evening sessions, accessible pricing, and community programming.
Headline events will include a fireside conversation with Chuck D, called How Hip-Hop Changed the World, hosted by broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake.
The legendary Sally Wainwright OBE - creator of Happy Valley, among other Yorkshire-based dramas - will sit down with actress Tamsin Greig to discuss their bold new upcoming drama Riot Women.
David Baddiel will present 'Is Religion the Ultimate Culture War?', while Myleene Klass MBE leads a relatable conversation around the mental load of motherhood, called 'Can Mums Have It All?'.
'How Level is the Playing Field?' will be a debate on gender equality in sport, featuring Fara Williams MBE, Verity Smith, Emily Campbell and more.
Myleene KlassSally Wainwright OBEVicky McClureWilliam HansonSome of the speakers confirmed for this year's LIFI
Celebrated actress Vicky McClure MBE is set to bring her inspiring project Our Dementia Choir Live to Leeds for this year's LIFI programme.
There'll also be loads of panel discussions which will touch on everything from domestic abuse and toxic masculinity to geopolitics, overtourism and motherhood.
Martin Dickson, Festival Director, said: “LIFI25 is the most urgent and exciting edition yet. In an increasingly polarised world, we need safe spaces to explore difficult topics with empathy, expertise and a sense of hope.
"This year’s line-up reflects the richness of public discourse, from legendary cultural icons to everyday change-makers, all ready to challenge ideas, share truths and spark curiosity. Leeds has always been a city of voices. LIFI is where they come together."
Tickets will go on sale to priority subscribers via the LIFI newsletter on 19 June at 1pm, with general sale opening on 24 June at 1pm.
Fans are encouraged to sign up by 19th June at 11am at leedsinternationalfestival.com to secure first access and see the full programme.
Multi award-winning musical Hadestown is heading out on tour next year, and of course it’ll be stopping off in Leeds.
The Tony and Grammy Award-winning production is currently playing its third smash-hit year in London’s West End, but once 2027 rolls around, Hadestown is embarking on its first-ever tour of the UK and Ireland, and tickets are officially set to go on general sale next Friday.
If you’re unfamiliar with this modern-day classic, Hadestown takes you on an unforgettable journey to the underworld and back, intertwining two mythic love stories – that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone.
Image – Marc Brenner (Supplied)
Described as being a ‘deeply resonant’ and ‘defiantly hopeful’ theatrical experience, audiences are invited to imagine how the world could be.
Having been seen by over six million people, streamed by nearly a billion, and adored by fans around the world, critics have called this record-breaking musical ’the most exhilarating ride’… and once you watch it for yourself, it’s not hard to see why.
Hadestown will be taking to the stage at the Lowry in the Leeds Grand Theatre next March arriving in the city on Tuesday 23 March and running through until Thursday 27 March 2027.
Image – Marc Brenner (Supplied)
Other northern cities the production will be visiting on its upcoming tour include Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool, Hull, and Chester, while there’s many other major locations on the list before it closes in Sunderland in mid-November 2027.
While the production is touring, the critically acclaimed West End run will still continue at London’s Lyric Theatre, more than eight years after its sold-out debut at the National Theatre in 2018.Â
Tickets officially go on general sale from 10am next Friday 12 June and can be booked on the Leeds Grand Theatre website online here.
Louis Theroux completes full line-up for Leeds International Festival of Ideas 2026
Clementine Hall
Leeds International Festival of Ideas today reveals the full line-up for its sixth edition.
Louis Theroux, Elizabeth Day, Chris Packham CBE, Roman Kemp, Vicky Pattison, James O’Brien, Dame Evelyn Glennie and Megan McKenna are among the amazing names heading to Leeds Playhouse in October for a five-day, ten-event programme.
Louis Theroux, one of the most distinctive broadcasters of our time, will open the festival on Tuesday 6 October with an intimate fireside chat at Leeds Playhouse’s Quarry stage.
The chat will cover four decades of social commentary, from far-right militias to Scientologists, porn stars to convicted criminals, the rich, the broken, and the misunderstood in one night, in Leeds,
Images: Supplied
Tim Minchin will then close proceedings on Saturday 10 October with 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.
Across the week, hosts Samira Ahmed, Chris Packham, Miranda Sawyer, Joe Tidy, Laura Hamilton, Amy Irons, Harriet Rose, Jamil Qureshi, Dr Hannah French and Larry Budd will lead a programme of panel discussions tackling the questions defining the moment: the future of the planet, belonging in modern Britain, the legacy of the 90s, the future of parenthood, suicide and masculinity, social media, failure, and what it means to live a creative life.
Martin Dickson, Festival Director, said: "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 — Tim Minchin, Elizabeth Day, Chris Packham, Samira Ahmed, Miranda Sawyer, 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."
Tickets go on sale to priority subscribers on Thursday 4 June, with general sale opening next Wednesday 10 June. Sign up to be a priority subscriber here.
Daisy Jackson -
18th June 2025 
