News

DERRY DIGITAL FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES MAJOR KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

• 27th Jul 2012

The organisers of Derry’s Culture Tech festival have today officially released a high-profile and eclectic lineup of keynote speakers including the CEO of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the editor-at-large of technology magazine Wired UK. The announcements round out a programme of events which is already attracting delegates from across the UK, Ireland and North America.

Culture Tech, which takes place in the city between August 29th and September 1st, is billed as a four-day celebration of digital technology, media and music. In addition to the keynote speakers, the event will feature over 50 industry speakers alongside film screenings, digital arts installations, a games tournament and an extensive music lineup. 

The keynote speakers announced today include: 

Kath Mainland, CEO of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Sir Nicholas Kenyon, Director of The Barbican, Europe’s largest performance venue
Ben Hammerlsey, Editor-at-Large at Wired magazine and No 10’s Ambassador to Tech City
Mike Butcher, editor of the highly influential TechCrunch Europe website

As festival organiser, Mark Nagurski, explained: 

“Culture Tech is one part conference, one part music festival and one part family-friendly carnival, all designed to celebrate digital culture. As of today we have announced over 50 speakers across TV, music, gaming and digital arts and we’re expecting well over 500 industry delegates and 10,000 members of the public to take part in activities and events across the city.” 
“We are thrilled to have so many high-profile speakers and industry experts involved in the event already and next week we will be announcing our music lineup, including dozens of acts and a free, public concert which will take place on the last day of the festival. In other words it’s going to be fantastically exciting.” 

Martin Adair from Invest Northern Ireland, who are co-sponsoring the event added: 

“The creative industries are hugely important to the Northern Ireland economy and we have truly world-class companies here across everything from TV to games and animation to music. The Culture Tech festival is a really accessible way of both showcasing those companies and inviting the public, particularly young people, to get involved. We’re delighted to be supporting such an exciting new event for Northern Ireland.” 

Festival tickets are on sale now via the Culture Tech website at link, priced at £49 with student tickets available for £29.