FT live event
I really enjoyed the inaugural Financial Times one-day festival that was held at Kenwood House in Hampstead Heath in September and looking forward to hopefully reviewing it again next year.
FT live event held at Kenwood House:-
The ultimate aim was to “celebrate the wit, elegance and eclectic range of enthusiasm which are their hallmark” and I think they successfully managed that by pulling together a fabulous cast of speakers.
Many of the Weekend’s best loved writers and columnists from Jancis Robinson to Simon Kuper. Chefs, journalists, adventurers, fashion designers and a host of other experts in their fields came together to participate in a series of over 65 talks across seven different stages. The all-day event worked around a series of stages – Food & Drink, How To Spend It, House & Home, FT Money, Arts and Travel.
But for festival-goers who prefer to leave financial markets behind on a Saturday there was also plenty on offer such as BBC presenter Simon Reeve talking about his travels to the far-flung corners of the globe, book signings, wine tastings and music.
The Doyenne of the fashion world, Vivienne Westwood talks:-
Heston Blumenthal:-
Fascinating talk by Leo Houlding, a professional rock climber and one of Britain’s top climbers and among the best in the world. He is a veteran of a score of epic ascents including Everest but specialises in free climbing the most technical peaks and biggest walls in the world. An experienced base jumper he is at the forefront of Para-Alpinism (climbing up then flying down). He pushes the limits of exploratory adventure by taking the ultimate in extreme sports to the most extreme environments. He was certainly captivating and inspirational during his hour long talk:-
Jan Francis gave a very popular talk (involving wine naturally) which was very well received:-
The full audience:-
Kellaway vs. Brûlé
Lucy Kellaway, FT’s Management Columnist, and Tyler Brûlé, Editor-in-Chief of Monocle and FT’s Fast Lane Columnist, go head-to-head over how we now work today.
As the Festival partner was Qatar, there was also the opportunity to meet with the falcon.
A wide-ranging food village offered an array of choices from pizza to oysters and crab burgers and, of course, champagne. There was also great music at the end of the day by Jack and the Jive Hands. I think as it grows, the set up and layout will improve, but for a first time event, it was a great success.
