← Festivals, conferences & talks
Festival
D&AD Festival
Creative practice and award-winning work explored through lectures, learning labs and jury discussions.
When & where
South Bank · Queen Elizabeth Hall & Purcell Room
2026 individual sessions · historical prices
Why go
The festival brings together designers, creative directors and brand leaders. Each session is ticketed separately rather than through an all-access pass. Programme credits below identify the relevant strand; an awards-jury title alone is not counted as a standalone talk.
Tickets & what they include
Jury Insights · session
£30 + VAT2026 · past edition
Individually ticketed jury discussion. This is not a full-festival pass.
Price source ↗President’s Lectures
£150 + VAT2026 · past edition
20 May keynote programme at Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Price source ↗Learning Labs
From £150 + VAT2026 · past edition
Separately ticketed learning programme; consult each session for coverage.
Price source ↗Yellow Pencils showcase
£75 + VAT2026 · past edition
Evening showcase with doors at 18:00, presentation at 19:00 and reception until 23:30.
Price source ↗Checked 8 October 2026. Prices identify their reference edition; availability and checkout totals can change. Historical prices are for planning.
Programme & schedule
Times are local to London. Timed sessions come from the individual programme pages. Talia Cotton’s start is listed; the published end conflicts with the lunch break. The Yellow Pencils showcase runs 19:00–22:00, followed by a reception until 23:30.
Tuesday 19 May
- 10:00–11:00
Jury Insights · South Bank
Culture Club ↗
- 11:30–12:30
Jury Insights · South Bank
Scroll-Stopping or Soul-less? ↗
- 13:00–14:00
Jury Insights · South Bank
From Fans to Fandoms ↗
- 14:30–15:30
Jury Insights · South Bank
Type Talks Back ↗
- 16:00–17:00
Jury Insights · South Bank
Frame by Frame ↗
Wednesday 20 May
- 10:00–10:05
- 10:00–10:15
- 10:00–11:00
Jury Insights · South Bank
Brand, Reborn ↗
- 10:05–10:35
- 10:15–10:45
- 10:35–10:50
Lectures · Queen Elizabeth Hall
The group chat that never died. ↗
Marta Litson, Paula Smiri, Sarah Yilma
- 10:45–11:20
Creative Impact · Purcell Room
CMOs Speak — Safe doesn’t scale: how bold creativity wins ↗
Katie Evans, Tanja Grubner, Charlotte Williams
- 10:50–11:20
Lectures · Queen Elizabeth Hall
In Conversation with Chaka Sobhani & Sara Dunlop ↗
Chaka Sobhani & Sara Dunlop
- 11:25–12:15
Creative Impact · Purcell Room
Trust arrives on foot and leaves on horseback: build it to last ↗
Chula Rupasinha & Lisa Drake
- 11:30–12:30
Jury Insights · South Bank
Creativity That Counts ↗
- 11:50–12:20
- 12:15–12:50
Creative Impact · Purcell Room
Building the conditions for creative excellence ↗
David Lee, Karen Blackett, Luiza Baffa, Priya Matadeen, David Patton
- 12:20
- 12:50–13:00
Creative Impact · Purcell Room
Reflections & what’s next ↗
- 13:00–14:00
Jury Insights · South Bank
Still Rolling ↗
- 14:00–14:05
- 14:05–14:25
- 14:05–14:35
Lectures · Queen Elizabeth Hall
Digital & the divine: the art and science of brand experience ↗
- 14:25–15:10
AI Accelerator · Purcell Room
From brief to Super Bowl in three weeks ↗
Rodrigo Sobral & Scott Herring
- 14:30–15:30
Jury Insights · South Bank
Desire, Redefined ↗
- 14:35–14:50
- 14:50–15:30
Lectures · Queen Elizabeth Hall
Have we moved on? 30 years in the creative industry ↗
Mary Lewis & Lisa Smith
- 15:10–15:40
- 15:40–16:15
- 15:45–16:00
Lectures · Queen Elizabeth Hall
What happened to our creative audacity? ↗
- 16:00–16:45
- 16:00–17:00
Jury Insights · South Bank
Attention Economy ↗
- 16:15–17:00
AI Accelerator · Purcell Room
What Next? ↗
Becky McOwen-Banks, Wesley ter Haar, Laura Jordan Bambach, Rodrigo Sobral
- 16:45–17:00
- 18:00
Social · Queen Elizabeth Hall
Yellow Pencils · doors and networking ↗
- 19:00–22:00
Showcase · Queen Elizabeth Hall
Yellow Pencils: Why They Won ↗
- 22:00–23:30
Loading programme…
