Festival of the Oppressed 2026

SKILL-SHARES • WORKSHOPS • FREE CHILDCARE • STRATEGY • INVESTIGATION • LIVE ART • COLLECTIVE FUN

Venue: London South Bank University, LSBU Hub, 100-116 London Rd, London SE1 6LN

Join us for the second-ever Festival of the Oppressed in London on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June 2026!

Bringing kids? please book your ticket and request childcare by 7 June to make sure you get a space!

Lenin described revolutions as ‘festivals of the oppressed and exploited’, and to transform this unequal, undemocratic world, in the face of climate catastrophe, we need nothing short of a revolution. We want to reignite popular agency, build new solidarities, and imagine alternative futures.

But we need to work out how we get there. Join our weekend of discussion, investigation and collective fun. Last year, we came together to explore how oppression, in its racialised, gendered, sexual, colonial and classed forms, is structured and reproduced today. This year will focus on how we resist and transcend this oppressive social world.

We welcome anyone interested in these questions to join us and enrich these conversations. There will be several workshops, panel discussions and more over the weekend.

SPEAKERS AND PROGRAMME

The full programme for the festival is now live! Check out the full line-up of speakers and sessions.

Richard Seymour
Ira Hybris
Adam Elliot Cooper
Joy James
Paul Murphy
Shanice McBean
Jonas Marvin
Sophie Lewis
Beatrice Adler-Bolton
Lola Olufemi
Gargi Bhattacharyya

And many more!