The Ripples of Hope Festival: Day One

Celebrating the power of people to make human rights a reality for all: Day One of the Ripples of Hope Festival (Weekend to Inspire) tackles the themes of ‘Dignity & Justice’ and ‘Activism and Participation’.

Spanning five days, The Ripples of Hope Festival programme at HOME features a ‘Weekend to Inspire’, three full days of conversations, workshops and performances exploring human rights. Bringing together local, national and international change-makers, the festival aims to celebrate the power of people, to inspire others to be the change they want to see in the world and to make human rights a reality for everyone.

Running from Friday 17 September to Sunday 19 September, each day will focus on a different theme – hosting impressive speakers and thought-provoking discussions. Conveniently, festival-goers can either purchase a weekend pass for access to all daytime events at the festival or a single day pass for a specific day. Evening events are ticketed separately.

The care system and modern slavery are just some of the issues tackled during the first half of the day.

Day One of the ‘Weekend to Inspire’ begins with conversations examining the key theme of ‘Dignity & Justice’. Criminal justice, the rights of the homeless, masculinity and violence, the care system and modern slavery are just some of the issues tackled during the first half of the day.

Take a closer look at community life and how individuals can shape and influence our society.

The afternoon session of Day One will focus on the topic of ‘Activism & Participation’ – taking a closer look at community life and how individuals can shape and influence our society. Take part in discussions around how we access our communities and the barriers we face in doing so. Hear more about the digital divide and the propagation of fake news and find out how we can protect freedom of speech and support young people to make positive changes to the world.

Hear from human rights barrister Baroness Helena Kennedy QC; journalist Amelia Gentleman; CEO of In Place of War Ruth Daniel; former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal OBE; Director of English PEN Daniel Gorman and artist and educator David Tovey.

There will also be two special evening events (ticketed separately). The first will see celebrated author and activist Elif Shafak deliver the 2021 English PEN HG Wells Lecture. The second, hosted by UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage CBE, will unveil the ground-breaking new work of 10 poets in response to Articles 1-10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.