Festival of Hope
Festival of Hope brings young people together to explore the issues that matter to them, encounter different perspectives and turn ideas into action.
Every Festival is different because every community is different.
What matters is creating space to ask bold questions, listen to one another and decide what might happen next.
What is Festival of Hope?
Festival of Hope is a community-driven initiative from Generation Global.
It creates spaces for and with young people to investigate the questions, challenges and possibilities they see around them.
A Festival might bring together a handful of young people in one school or hundreds of participants from across a city or country. It might last an afternoon or develop into a longer series of conversations and activities.
It might involve dialogue, workshops, performances, art, exhibitions, speakers, prototyping, community projects or something nobody has tried before.
The format is flexible. The principles are not.
Hope, community, action.
All co-created with youth.
Start with the questions that matter
- What is happening around you?
- What do people in your community care about?
- What feels unfair, uncertain or possible?
- What would you change?
Festivals begin with questions like these.
Young people around the world have used Festival of Hope to explore themes including identity and diversity, fairness and inclusion, AI and technology, climate and sustainability, mental health, and personal and planetary wellbeing.
Your questions may be completely different.
That is the point.
Think boldly. Inquire bravely. Act together.
A Festival creates room for three things to happen.
Ask questions, encounter different experiences and look at an issue from more than one perspective.
Bring together young people, educators, community members, artists, practitioners and others who can contribute different ideas and experiences.
Turn what you discover into something tangible, whether that means starting another conversation, creating something, changing a practice, organising a project or taking action in your community.
Festival of Hope was created around this movement from inquiry towards action rather than an event ending when the programme finishes.
A global community, shaped locally
Since 2022, more than 12,000 young people across 90 countries have taken part in Festival of Hope.
Festivals have ranged from major gatherings involving more than 100 schools to small activities organised within individual communities. They have taken place in person and online and can be organised in any language.
There is no standard Festival to reproduce.
The aim is to make the experience meaningful for the young people and communities creating it.
How can I get involved?
Take action
Start with something you care about and explore how you could respond.
Host a Festival
Create a Festival of Hope with your school, organisation or community.
Hear from others
Meet some of the young people, practitioners, artists and thinkers who have contributed to Festival of Hope conversations.
See Festival of Hope in action
Explore stories, conversations, videos and Festivals from around the world.