Carthew and Sarpong among headliners at Creative Coalition Festival

Natasha Carthew and June Sarpong are among the headline speakers at this year’s Creative Coalition festival, which will take place online from 1st to 3rd February.

The free programme will feature more than 200 speakers across more than 50 sessions, including talks and panels, live performances, practical workshops and networking events.

Television writer and showrunner Jed Mercurio, award-winning music composer Renell Shaw, and chair of editorial board and US editor-at-large at the Financial Times Gillian Tett will also take part. 

Organisers said the festival would celebrate the achievements of the UK’s world-leading creative industries while "offering an open forum to address the issues facing the sector". It will be hosted by TV and radio presenter Swarzy Macaly.

Day one explores how to reimagine the creative sector, with sessions including "Reimagining the Landscape", "Resetting the Narrative", a discussion on how creatives can take control of their own stories and empower others to do the same, and "Cultural Change Starts with Us", an exploration into why institutions need to first look within to create impact and change across the creative industries. 

The second day looks at ways to redefine the creative industries. "Rethinking the Economy" examines how to redesign the creative economy for a fairer and more prosperous world, "The Class Debate" asks why working-class people are underrepresented in the creative sector workforce, why this matters and how to increase representation, and "Black Lives Matter, What Next?" looks at the impacts of the movement and how to sustain change in the creative sector. 

Day three sessions focus on a mission to reignite the future of creativity. During "Designing a Greener Future", speakers discuss how creativity and storytelling have the power to influence change, re-shape our narratives, and protect our planet, and a session continuing the theme of using culture and creativity to influence, inspire and enable environmental action is streamed live from the Rainforest Biome at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Further programme details will be announced in the coming weeks. To register for a free ticket visit festival.wearecreative.uk.