The Economist announces its first lineup of speakers for the Open Future Festival 2019 on October 5th in Hong Kong, Manchester and Chicago

LONDON, May 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Following on from its success in 2018, The Economist will host its Open Future Festival 2019 on October 5th in Hong Kong, Manchester and Chicago. Guests will be able to participate in lively talks, interactive exhibitions, immersive experiences, debates and networking with festival attendees. The festival will host discussions on critical issues—from populism, the environment and education, to the future of work and data ethics—with dynamic speakers representing many sides of the debate.

Speakers for the Hong Kong Open Future Festival include:

• James Crabtree, author and journalist
• Neha Dixit, independent journalist 

Speakers for the Manchester Open Future Festival include:

• Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England
• Guy Standing, author and universal-basic-income-advocate
• Jim O'Neill, economist and former British treasury minister

Speakers for the Chicago Open Future Festival include:

• Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments
• Andrew Keen, author of numerous books on technology and regulation

More speakers will be announced soon.

The Economist encourages people from all walks of life to attend the Open Future Festival 2019 and take part in the conversation. Find out more and/or register interest here:

Hong Kong Open Future Festival
6pm - 9:20pm HKT (followed by drinks) at HKEX Connect Hall
$29.40 USD cost for subscribers; $49 USD cost for non-subscribers

Manchester Open Future Festival
11am - 6:10pm BST (followed by drinks) at The Point at Old Trafford Manchester
£23 cost for subscribers; £39 cost for non-subscribers

Chicago Open Future Festival
10am - 3:40pm CDT (followed by a reception) at Chicago’s Union Station 
$29.40 USD cost for subscribers; $49 USD cost for non-subscribers

The festival kicks off at an evening event in Hong Kong. This is then handed over to an all-day event in Manchester. The baton is then passed to a midday event in Chicago. The three festivals will be live-streamed to reach a global audience.

More details about the festival, including the programmes and a link to register, are on the Hong Kong, Manchester and Chicago event sites.

The Open Future Festival is part of the Open Future initiative, which was launched in 2018 to mark The Economist's 175th anniversary and remake the case for the newspaper's founding principles of classical British liberalism: a belief in human progress, distrust of powerful interests and respect for individual freedom. These principles are now being challenged from all sides in a period of populism and growing authoritarianism.

The initiative continues in 2019 with editorial programming featuring thought-provoking external voices published on Economist.com and on other Economist platforms. Through articles, online debates, essays, podcasts and films, The Economist's Open Future initiative explores the future of capitalism, free speech, diversity, immigration and technology by encouraging a vigorous debate with our critics and supporters, and aimed at a young audience in particular.

The initiative has proved popular. Last year Open Future content received more than 9m engagements on social media and over 6m unique website visitors, 2m of whom were first-time visitors to Economist.com. The sold-out festivals in 2018 in Hong Kong, London and New York featured a diverse lineup of speakers, including the student leaders of Hong Kong's umbrella movement, former British prime minister Tony Blair, and the former White House adviser Steve Bannon. The event was attended by over 1,000 people across the three cities.

To read Open Future articles, please visit:  www.economist.com/openfuture

About The Economist 
With a growing global audience and a reputation for insightful analysis and perspective on every aspect of world events, The Economist is one of the most widely recognised and well-read current-affairs publications in the world. In addition to the weekly print and digital editions and website, The Economist publishes Espresso, a daily news app, Global Business Review, a bilingual English-Chinese product and 1843 magazine. Economist Radio produces several podcasts a week and Economist Films produces short- and long-form video. The Economist maintains robust social communities on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, LINE, Medium and other social networks. A recipient of many editorial and marketing awards, The Economist was named the most trusted news source by the Trusting News Project Report in 2017.

SOURCE The Economist