Creative festival confirms more than 100 speakers

The Creative Leaders two-day virtual event created for the creative industries will take place on May 25 and 26 and has revealed a line-up of more than 100 speakers.

Speakers from Lancashire include Tony Attard, Creative Lancashire, Pink Link, Hotter Shoes, Chorley Council and UCLan.

The virtual expo will provide advice about support available to the sector to help businesses plan and grow. The programme features roundtable discussions, Q&A sessions, workshops and networking alongside the high-profile speakers.

Additional speakers include Creative England’s Mehjabeen Patrick; Manchester International Festival’s Paul Clay; Northern Ballet’s chief executive Mark Skipper, and co-chair of Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership and CEO of Magnetic North Lou Cordwell.

This is the second festival following last year’s inaugural event, which covered the North West and attracted more than 450 delegates to register. It is open to any creative, digital or tech business, based in the North of England, operating in fields such as film, TV, photography, design, gaming, fashion, marketing and PR.

Caroline Dinenage, minister of state for digital and culture, will open the event. She said: "The creative industries will play a vital role in helping to drive the economy as we build back better from the pandemic.

"It is fantastic to see thriving creative industries across the north where the sector is continuing to make important strides as part of our levelling up agenda. This festival is a great opportunity to celebrate this success and be inspired for the future."

The event is free to attend and the full schedule can be viewed here.

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