Festival Life

10 things that happened at Ideas Fest that would never happen at a conference

Two days, one field and 6,000 business leaders and entrepreneurs. A few things happened this September that you just don't get in a hotel ballroom.

Ideas Fest

27 September 2026 · 4 min read

1
The founder of YO! Sushi led a dance circle
Simon Woodroffe, the man who founded YO! Sushi, got a full dance circle going in the middle of the festival. And the music? That came from founders who'd never DJed before, taking to the decks after just an hour of lessons. Try getting that on a conference agenda.
2
A bank built a social club
Starling didn't bother with a pop-up banner. They built the Starling Social Club, somewhere to sit down, catch up and meet people properly between talks.
3
A law firm ran a basketball shoot-out
You don't usually go to a law firm's tent to shoot hoops. But at The Fineprint*, Lawrence Stephens teamed up with startup Hoops Social Basketball for the 'Net' Worth Founder Shoot-Out. The challenge was simple: sink as many baskets as you can before the buzzer and get yourself on the live festival leaderboard. Official London Lions host Huncho kept the crowd going across both days, and the top scorers won tickets to Ideas Fest 2027.
4
People camped & glamped
Champneys is one of the country's best known spas, and for two days its grounds were full of tents, glamping and campervans, alongside the people who'd booked rooms in the hotel. Not your average conference accommodation.
5
The day didn't finish at 6pm
When the main programme wrapped up, After Dark took over and carried on until late. Some of the best conversations of the festival happened long after the last talk.
6
Your coffee came with a podcast stage
The coffee hub, run by Under the Canvas, doubled as a podcast stage. So you could grab a flat white and catch a live recording in the same spot.
7
The conversations got properly real
The Unapologetic space hosted the kind of talks you won't find on a normal agenda, from ageing disgracefully to the manosphere and dry networking. Past speakers have included Emma Sayle, Tonia Buxton, Ruby Wax and Cindy Gallop.
8
Hosted tables for proper conversations
On day one, the UBS Connectivity Hub ran hosted tables through the afternoon, so people could sit down in small groups and actually talk to some of the UK's most successful founders in a speed networking format rather than shouting over a drinks reception.
9
The big stages were big tops
Instead of a conference hall, the headline sessions happened in two big tops, Conversations That Matter and Real Talk, each holding hundreds of people under canvas.
10
People built a business in 90 minutes
The Great British Build-Off, powered by Macaly for team.blue, asked people to register an idea, build it live at the festival in 90 minutes using Macaly AI, then pitch it on stage. Up for grabs was £5,000 and up to 200 million Macaly AI credits.