Four days, more than 100 events, all free. That is the problem as much as the appeal. Nobody has time to read a full programme just to find the dozen things worth planning around. Here is the shortlist.

The festival runs Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 July 2026, mostly around Chester city centre, with events at Chester Town Hall, Chester Picturehouse, Storyhouse, the Cathedral, the Grosvenor Museum and other venues. Some of the headline conversations are at the University’s Exton Park campus on Parkgate Road, a mile or so out of the centre. Everything is free, but many sessions need a free ticket booked in advance. Drop-in sessions need no booking.

Thursday 2 July

Cheshire as a Palatinate - 11am, Chester Picturehouse. Historian Graeme White on Cheshire’s centuries of semi-independence from Westminster, timed neatly with devolution and the Mayoral Combined Authority question back on the table. History with a current-affairs hook.

Voices, Evidence and Change: rough sleeping - 11.30am, Storyhouse Garret Theatre. A panel that puts people with lived experience of rough sleeping alongside academics and practitioners, rather than talking about them in the abstract.

Friday 3 July

Roman Chester: Looking Beneath the Surface - 2pm, starting at the canal bridge on Upper Northgate Street. Archaeologist Peter Carrington leads a walking tour past the parts of Roman Chester the usual interpretation panels do not cover, finishing at Town Hall Square. This is exactly the sort of smaller event likely to fill quickly, so check availability before building your afternoon around it.

The Immersive Chester Amphitheatre - Exton Park Campus, Downes Sports Hall, in 30-minute ticketed slots. A VR reconstruction of Chester’s Roman amphitheatre, developed with University of Chester partners including the Grosvenor Museum and supported by National Lottery funding through Arts Council England. Not one to wander into by accident: it is out at Exton Park, not in the city centre.

Mariella Frostrup: In Conversation - 6pm, Exton Park Campus, Binks Building, Parkgate Road, CH1 4BJ. On the economics of closing the gender pay and health gap, in conversation with Professor Emma Rees.

Gary Younge: In Conversation - 7.30pm, same building at Exton Park. The former Guardian editor-at-large on race, identity and his new book Pigeonholed, talking with Professor Tim Grady. Frostrup and Younge back-to-back at the same venue makes for a natural Friday evening out. Just remember it is the campus on Parkgate Road, not the Town Hall.

Saturday 4 July

Chaos of Roman Britain with Greg Jenner - 12pm, Chester Town Hall. The Horrible Histories historical consultant on why and how the Romans invaded, pitched at families rather than people who want a dry academic trudge. Likely to be one of the busier free sessions.

Mya-Rose Craig: In Conversation - 2pm, Chester Picturehouse. The birdwatcher-turned-environmentalist who founded Black2Nature talks to Dr Rebecca Collins about conservation, access and turning a childhood obsession into national campaigning.

The Ship that Chester Built - 2pm, starting at 30 St Werburgh Street in the Cathedral complex, ending in the Cathedral. In 1750 Chester’s own shipyard built the St George, which carried 662 enslaved people from West Africa to the Caribbean across three voyages. This walking tour traces the vanished shipyards, sugar refineries and merchant houses connected to that trade. A piece of Chester history that does not usually make it onto the heritage trail. Availability looked tight when checked, so do not leave this one until the day.

Dame Jenny Harries: In Conversation - 4pm, Chester Picturehouse. The University’s Chancellor and former UK Health Security Agency chief on a career from frontline medicine to national crisis leadership.

Wild Futures family drop-in - 2.30-5pm, Chester Town Hall, no booking needed. Owl pellet dissection, badger paw-print casting, a repair cafe and a “night safari” using remote African waterhole cameras. Genuinely odd, genuinely free, and the easiest way to fill a Saturday afternoon with kids without committing to a fixed ticketed slot.

Sunday 5 July

David Baddiel: In Conversation - 1pm-2.30pm, Chester Town Hall. In conversation with Dr Hannah Ewence, Head of Humanities, Cultures and Environment at the University of Chester. One of the festival’s headline bookings this year, alongside Frostrup, Younge and Jenner.

The Practical Bit

Everything is free, but book ahead for ticketed sessions. Availability is live and some events are already tight, especially smaller walks, talks and headline sessions. The Friday evening conversations with Mariella Frostrup and Gary Younge are at Exton Park on Parkgate Road, not in the city centre, so allow time to get there. Drop-in sessions, including the Saturday family activities, need no ticket. Just turn up.

Full listings and booking: festivalofideas.chester.ac.uk