As the great philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once said, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
So let’s take a moment to imagine how enlightened you’ll be when you look forward to looking back on a day spent at the world’s biggest philosophy & music festival, listening to great thinkers; debating with politicians over lunch; and throwing wild shapes in a bell tent blasting out ’80s acid house… something that will happen the moment you snap up tickets to HowTheLightGetsIn.
The think-fest is returning for another glorious September weekend in the idyllic Kenwood Gardens up on the edge of Hampstead Heath, where you can look down on the rest of London (strictly in the literal sense) from their magnificent, bunting-strewn micro-village of tents, stages, al fresco areas, pop-up bars and street food stalls.
All in all, there’ll be a tidy 150 events going down, ranging from debates about quantum physics and living in the moment, to stand-up comedy, to BAFTA-winning musicians. And of course, that’s on top of the long table banquets, pop up bars, philosophy breakfasts, street food, cabaret, and enough other attractions to give you an existential crisis (before promptly solving it).
Having established a pretty decent reputation for itself as Europe’s answer to TED Talks, HTLGI has gathered an impressive line-up of speakers for the 2024 edition. Taking a seat in their festoon-lit bell tents, you’ll be able to hear thought-provoking insights from Green Party co-chair Carla Denyer; comedian-turned-campaigner Ruby Wax; the ‘Godfather of AI’, Yoshua Bengio; record-breaking endurance athlete Russ Cook; former House of Commons speaker John Bercow; best-selling author Philippa Gregory; and Sir Roger Penrose (who won a Nobel Prize for his theory on black holes… at the age of 89).
Themed around ‘Navigating the Unknown’, there’ll be fascinating panel discussions on everything from computer consciousness to the possibility of world peace. All told, there’ll be 100 speakers taking to the stage across the weekend, including dozens of activists, economists, ecologists and political commentators, who’ll be debating with the aim to collaborate rather than divide. Basically, it’s a kind of mental aspirin for the sense of impending doom we’re all feeling around global politics, the climate, and the future of all humanity.
But you won’t be expected to just sit back and listen, no siree. You can get personally involved by joining the eccentric Hat Sessions (where you can ask questions about the big topics), engaging in a philosophy breakfast, or by chewing the fat over a multi-course long-table banquet with the speakers themselves.
As the sun begins to set, all thoughts of politics and philosophy are put to bed, and the festival’s lively evening programme gets going. On the music front, they’ve got artists like Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, Rae Morris, and multi platinum Sam and the Womp this year, as well as a dazzling line-up of tinsel-tasselled cabaret stars. There’ll also be stand-up comedy and the line-up is about to drop anytime soon, but over the years they’ve had James Acaster, Phil Wang, and Ivo Graham so you’ll be sure to have a laugh.
Finally, you can fill any remaining spare seconds of your time perusing the street food market and pop-up bars…
…where you’ll be rubbing shoulders with some of society’s great drinkers, too.
NOTE: HowTheLightGetsIn 2024 takes place on the 21st & 22nd of September on Hampstead Heath. You can find out more, and book tickets right HERE.
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Kenwood House | Hampstead Lane, Highgate, NW3 7JR
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