BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival

BBC Radio 3 brings together leading thinkers for a weekend of provocative debate, new ideas, music and drama.

If advance tickets for your chosen event are currently sold out dont forget that there will be a standby queue on the day.

Past events in this festival

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Radio 1 Take it On: Film & TV

With stars and writers from Hollyoaks and Waterloo Road. Following the huge success of the 2012...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Radio 1 Take it On: Business

Following the huge success of the 2012 Hackney Academy, Radio 1 is hosting a series of talks at...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Radio 1 Take it On: Music

Following the huge success of the 2012 Hackney Academy, Radio 1 is hosting a series of talks at...

More Info

Copywright: BBC, Photo credit: BBC/Adrian Weinbrecht

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: In Tune

Live from The Sage Gateshead, *Sean Rafferty* presents Radio 3’s drive-time programme 'In Tune',...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Mary Robinson

*Presented by Matthew Sweet* Mary Robinson has had a pioneering political career as the first...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Radio 4's Start the Week

BBC Radio 4's flagship programme of ideas comes to Free Thinking for the first time. Start the Week...

More Info

Colm Tóibín

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Colm Tóibín

*Presented by Philip Dodd* *Colm Toibin* is one of Ireland’s finest writers, whose books...

More Info

Charlotte Blease (New Generation Thinker): The Medicine Game

We trust the 36,000 GPs in this country to work out what is wrong with us. But how much of what...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Rewriting World History

*Presented by Rana Mitter* Does World History really still mean Western History, or do we need a...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Music Matters

*Presented by Tom Service* *Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances cellist Natalie Clein...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Philosophy4Children

A Free Thinking experience for all the family. The Philosophy4Children workshop is an engaging...

More Info

Nandini Das (New Generation Thinker): Inventing the Underworld

Crime fiction and travel writing are regulars on the book charts today. But long before the charts...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Is Social Mobility Overrated?

Social Mobility has become the new Holy Grail for politicians, with all three main parties united...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Julie Bindel; Not Born This Way

*Presented by Samira Ahmed* Whether sexuality is genetic or not goes to the heart of the...

More Info

Free Thinking For Family

Children's author Simon Puttock is a master of creating fantastical characters, from the devious...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Amos Oz

War and Peace in the Middle East. Amos Oz is one of Israel's most influential thinkers. A...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Lindsay Johns: Stop Listening to the Young

*Presented by Rana Mitter* In many ways Britain’s youth is in crisis, trapped by rising debt...

More Info

Sue-Ann Harding (New Generation Thinker): Expat or Immigrant

What is the difference between an expat and an immigrant? Can a citizen still be a migrant?...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Michael Ignatieff

*Them and Us: Enemies and Adversaries in Politics* Presented by Matthew Sweet On the eve of...

More Info

Free Thinking Festival: Revolution and Democracy: The Arab Spring

*Presented by Samira Ahmed* What kind of societies will the Arab Spring give birth to?...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Words & Music

BBC Radio 3's award-winning 'Words and Music' programme returns to Free Thinking for an atmospheric...

More Info

Timothy Secret (New Generation Thinker): Cat's Eyes

Our world changes when we're on display. When caught in another person's gaze, some of us strut...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival : Hell Is Other People

*Presented my Anne McElvoy* As our global population increases, the world is becoming an...

More Info

Joshua Nall (New Generation Thinker): Mars and the Victorians

With the recent success of NASA's Curiosity lander, Mars is firmly back on the agenda. But where...

More Info

Photo: Tony Harrison

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: The Verb

Poet Ian McMillan, one the UK's best-loved wordsmiths, hosts BBC Radio 3's The Verb, his unique...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory is one of the UK's best-selling historical novelists, who left a career in...

More Info

Matthew Smith (New Generation Thinker): Peanut Panic

Food allergies are on the rise, affecting 15 million people in North America and the UK. And...

More Info

Tom Holland

Free Thinking Festival: Islam and Christianity: The Essential Difference

Just how different are the two biggest world religions? Two leading scholars explore what...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Vicky Featherstone: The Making of a New National Theatre

One of the most exciting figures in British theatre, *Vicky Featherstone* is the founder of the...

More Info

Adriana Sinclair

Adriana Sinclair (New Generation Thinker): Our Colonial Future

Do ex-colonies now exert control over their former colonial powers? Adrian Sinclair, lecturer in...

More Info

Emma Griffin

Emma Griffin (New Generation Thinker): The Good Mother

What makes a good mother today? Historian Emma Griffin of the University of East Anglia turns to...

More Info

Mark Pagal

Free Thinking Festival: Mark Pagel: Evolution and Humanity - What Next?

Why have humans evolved to speak so many incomprehensible languages? Why do we work against our own...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Immigration and the Challenge to Belonging

*Presented by Phillip Dodd* Immigration is a highly sensitive and polarising issue that throws...

More Info

Martin Goodman

Martin Goodman (New Generation Thinker): Living the Lives of Others

"Following in the footsteps" is an obsession for biographers as they travel the world to bring...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Ian Goldin

Ian Goldin is a leading economist who has been Vice President of the World Bank and advisor to...

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Aliens: The Ultimate Them and Us

Scientists have now detected distant planets that may contain life. If we are not alone in the...

More Info

Jonathan Healey

Jonathan Healey (New Generation Thinker): How Not to Learn from History

Oxford University historian Jonathan Healey argues that lessons from the past are meaningless....

More Info

BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: Lee Hall

*Presented by Phillip Dodd* *Lee Hall* is the Newcastle born and bred screenwriter and...

More Info

Kevin Whately

Free Thinking Festival: The Torchbearers

*Venue: Baltic Centre of Contemporary Art, Level One* Kevin Whately, star of ITV’s Inspector...

More Info

Like most websites, we use cookies to facilitate online booking and to ensure we give you the best possible experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume you're happy to receive cookies. You can learn more about changing your settings in our Privacy Policy.