A big thanks to all those who sent in session or speaker proposals via the YouFestival page of the festival website. The deadline was 31 December. Successful proposers were notified by 10 January.
These proposals make the festival richer, broader, more pluralistic. It’s an opportunity for us to get to know new speakers, with fresh energy and ideas. It’s also a demonstration of widespread generosity of spirit, a willingness to share experience and expertise.
We received a large number of proposals. We can only select a relatively small proportion due to constraints on the number of sessions in the festival programme. We chose proposals on the basis of feasibility, quality and originality, providing a platform where possible to younger and lesser known talents.
For the 2018 festival we received a total of 275 separate proposals, 159 from Italy, 116 from outside Italy. The proposals came from 36 different countries (as you can see in the map above). After Italy, the countries from which most proposals came were the UK with 20, the USA with 19, Germany with 16, France with 6, Belgium with 5, Australia and Canada with 4 each, followed by other countries.
The selected speakers will be placed as soon as possible in the festival speakers page. We invite those who weren’t successful with their proposal this time to consider applying again for the 2019 festival.
For those thinking of attending the festival, all sessions will be free entry for all attendees without any need for registration. For those intending to follow the festival from a distance, all festival sessions will be live-streamed, with the on-demand video available immediately afterwards.