A political event featuring talks, debates and a speaking contest, convened by Brian Jenner and held in memory of David Boyle.
The Carnival of Alternative Politics returns to Freemasons' Hall in Boscombe from 25 to 27 September, a few months after its first run in February. It's put on by speechwriter and conference organiser Brian Jenner, who describes it as a repeat of that earlier Boscombe event, with presentations from writers and speakers under 30.
Jenner is running the carnival in memory of the co-operator David Boyle, the former New Economics Foundation editor who died last year. He says he wanted to sustain Boyle's vibrant ideas and sense of community, and describes Boyle's work as championing human-scale institutions over centralised ones, human imagination over dull rationalism, and the human spirit over technocratic reduction. The organisers call Bournemouth 'the spiritual home of Britain's annual political conferences', so there's a bit of a nod to the town's history in the choice of location.
The format is built around talks and debates. The February edition featured a panel of twenty-somethings, an author, a debate about returning to Europe, and a speaking contest for sixth formers judged by a local Labour MP. While the full programme for this run hasn't been confirmed yet, the focus remains on younger voices taking the lead on the political stage. It's three days of people talking and arguing rather than just listening, and the under-30s angle means the perspectives on the stage will be coming from a different generation than you'll find at a typical political gathering.
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It runs from 25 to 27 September at Freemasons' Hall in Boscombe, so you can drop in for a single session or stick around for the whole thing. Keep an eye out for the full line-up as it gets closer.
