Venue: STEAMhouse, Birmingham City University
Date: Monday 19th January 2026, 12:00PM – Tuesday 20th January 2026, 3:00PM
Conference hotel: Premier Inn Birmingham City Centre (Exchange Square), 6, Exchange Square, The Priory Queensway, Birmingham B4 6FY (view in Maps)
Tickets are available now
The 2026 BAFA Conference for Festivals will bring the arts festivals sector together to gain the insight, inspiration and connection that will supercharge your team and events in the year to come. This year’s event is about building resilience, connecting colleagues across the industry for knowledge sharing via panel sessions, roundtables, lightning talks, and informal networking.
Speakers include Supersonic, LIVE, Festivals Edinburgh, Attitude is Everything, Bradford 2025, the Institute of Place Management, Royal Shakespeare Company, the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority and CreaTech Frontiers.
Topics this year include the future of fundraising and income generation, festivals and activism, operating values-led organisations, environmental sustainability and festival evolution. We’ll be showcasing the work from the BAFA PhD to kickstart discussions on festival lifecycles, team dynamics and the future of the sector, looking at the Live Events Access Charter and sharing insights gained from Bradford’s year as the UK City of Culture.
The Conference will offer a range of sessions, with plenty of opportunities for both listening and interaction, as well as informal networking through breaks and our Monday night reception and dinner. We encourage member festivals to come in teams, with discounted tickets for additional team members attending, and have first-time attendee discounts for members, plus under 25 tickets to support the next generation of festival producers.
