Digital festival prepares for record breaking v.2.0

The Leeds Digital Festival has announced the programme for its second edition of 2020, with a record breaking 294 events taking place, from 21st September to 2nd October.

The Festival, which was originally due to have 250 physical events take place in April, was forced to go online because of Covid-19 and subsequently organised 134 virtual events within three weeks.

Now back for with Leeds Digital Festival 2020 2.0 the autumn festival will still see the majority of activity take place virtually but also include a select a number of physical events as a result of lockdown easing.

Highlights of the two-week Festival include events arranged by organisations including BJSS, ODI Leeds, Asda, Deloitte, and Raspberry Pi. There is a growing international flavour too, with events including a Tech in China event featuring Alibaba organised by Leeds City Council, the Embassy of Israel putting on two events, four events from the Department of International Trade, and a Eurocities conference.

Specific events include a No Code Court, EY’s Finding the Next Northern Tech Unicorn, a Safety Tech Unconference organised by DCMS, the return of the Women in Leeds Digital conference, and the FinTech North Open Mic Showcase.

Sponsors and partners of the Festival include Crisp, TPP, Leeds City Council, the University of Leeds and Channel 4.

Stuart Clarke, festival director, said, “I often say that the Leeds tech community is the most collaborative in the UK and to host almost 300 events in our second Festival of the year goes a long way to prove that. The Leeds Digital Festival is the most varied tech event in the country, with events covering all aspects of the sector, from healthtech to data to coding to cyber security. There are also a number of events covering how specific industries use tech, for example Arup and SES in construction and engineering, and Opera North and the British Library in the cultural world.

“This year has been difficult for many people and firms, so it’s great to see events relating to how we can get back up and running in a post-Covid world, as well as a number of sessions looking at careers in the tech sector. The Festival is a good way for students and recent graduates to get involved in the tech sector.”

Adam Hildreth, CEO and founder of main Festival sponsor Crisp, added, “We’ve been really pleased to support the Leeds Digital Festival over the last few years as it’s an incredible showcase for the talent we have in the city region and helps to cement the city’s reputation as a fast-growing tech cluster. As a Leeds born and bred business with an international focus, it’s great to see the growing number of international events taking place, which helps to spread Leeds’ message across the world.”