A genuine Archbishop and various National Treasures are among the speakers at this year’s Idler Festival.
Fenton House — a gorgeous 17th century mansion hidden away from the busier areas of Hampstead — is once again the fancy venue for 2026’s event, a relaxed-jolly of ideas, activities… and inactivities.
The annual event — which this year takes place on 10-12 July — features some serious big-name speakers, but in a studiously laid-back environment. Festival goers are invited to do “as much or as little as they please” at London’s most relaxed festival.
You’ll probably end up doing quite a lot, actually, because the speakers include hugely popular authors Irvine Welsh, Jojo Moyes and Charlie Higson, as well as Bake Off legend Prue Leith and the returning Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury. Some other confirmed highlights include:
🐌 Jah Wobble will delve into his ‘Memoirs of a Geezer’.
🐌 Cathi Unsworth talks Goth women.
🐌 Nigel Planer holds court as the paperback of his autobiography, Young Once, arrives.
🐌 Chris Difford reveals the stories behind the songs of Squeeze as their ‘lost’ concept album, Trixies, finally lands.
🐌 Lissa Evans reminisces about Craggy Island in her tales of producing Father Ted.
🐌 Ben Moor presents his one-man show, Not Everything is Significant.
🐌 DJ Zakia Sewell recounts her travels from Somerset to Scotland, looking for the alternative spirit of Britain, found in otherworldly folk songs, ancient legends, Celtic seasonal rites and mystic stone circles.
🐌 Esther Freud discusses using Lucian, Bella and the rest of the Freud family as characters in her fiction.
🐌 Georgia Mann treats people to a classical DJ set.
🐌 All this in beautiful surroundings with an orchard bar and Spanish-Moroccan mezze made by Moro chefs.
Side activities include dancing lessons, walks, singing, beekeeping and plenty of time to lie under an apple tree with a book and a drink. Not completely idle, then.
The Idler Festival, Fenton House, Hampstead, 10-12 July 2026. Day and Weekend tickets available.
