Over 650 humanists from across the UK – and beyond – travelled to Bournemouth June 12-14 for the Festival of Humanism, Humanists UK’s flagship annual event.
Held at Bournemouth’s International Centre and in celebration of World Humanist Day, the weekend brought together Humanists UK members, patrons, and activists, as well as a five-star lineup of over 40 speakers for a packed programme of talks. The weekend kicked off on Friday evening with standup comedy to break the ice. Comics Robin Morgan, Iszi Lawrence, Tamsyn Kelly, and headline act Larry Dean opened the Festival of Humanism in style, and in high spirits.
The weekend was also preceded by a Humanism in Action day, bringing together Humanists UK’s celebrants, pastoral carers, local group volunteers, and Faith to Faithless team to learn with and from one another.
Championing ideas for the one life we have
In his welcome address, Labour MP for Bournemouth East, Tom Hayes, paid tribute to Maureen Duffy – patron of Humanists UK and the first President of LGBT+ Humanists – who died just weeks before the Festival, aged 92. Her connection to Bournemouth runs deep: it was at the Bournemouth International Centre that Maureen, then President of the Writers’ Guild, proposed the historic Trade Unions Against Section 28 in 1988.
Janet Ellis MBE then took to stage as President of Humanists UK for the very first time. In conversation with Chief Executive Andrew Copson OBE, Janet reflected on her journey to humanism, and the value she finds in this way of thinking and being: ‘The things I find precious – my children, my grandchildren – are precious because our time together is limited,’ she said. ‘That’s what gives my life so much meaning.’
Pictured: Tom Hayes MP, Andrew Copson OBE, Janet Ellis MBE, Lizzi Collinge MP
From the personal to the cosmic, Dr Alfredo Carpineti delivered a dazzling lecture on the ethics of space – all the more timely given that Elon Musk had just become the world’s first trillionaire. Alfredo argued: ‘The politics of space are the politics of war,’ and traced the history of the space race from the Cold War to today’s satellite networks. He warned that the final frontier cannot be allowed to become a ‘playground for billionaires and trillionaires with no limits and no regulation.’
Lord Alf Dubs – Kindertransport survivor, longtime Labour peer, and Humanists UK patron – was handed the main stage to reflect on a career defined by compassion. Put on a train out of Nazi-occupied Prague aged six, Dubs has spent eight decades championing the underdog: as MP for Battersea, Director of the Refugee Council, and architect of the 2016 Dubs Amendment securing safe passage for unaccompanied child refugees. His words landed with particular force in the current political climate. ‘Children who have seen their parents torn apart by bombs are dehumanised by the far-right’ he said. ‘We must not let them.’ It was heartening, also, to hear Alf pay tribute to our former member Nicholas Winton – who assisted in the rescue of 669 children from Czechoslovakia at the outbreak of World War II.
The afternoon brought one of the festival’s most anticipated moments: a live recording of the Unholy Histories podcast, with Vice Presidents Professor Alice Roberts and Dr Adam Rutherford joining hosts Andrew Copson and Madeleine Goodall to explore the roots of Western moral philosophy, and to dismantle the myth that Western values flow exclusively from Christianity. ‘Morality gives rise to religion,’ said Rutherford, ‘not religion to morality’ – drawing on the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius, among others, to trace the deep, global roots of humanist moral thinking.
Saturday closed with Adam Rutherford revisiting his landmark book A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, a decade on from its first publication. Genomics, he showed, has since rewritten the story of our species. Delegates heard about Denny – a teenage girl whose bone fragment revealed she was the first-generation hybrid child of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan parent. ‘She’s one of the most important people who’s ever existed,’ Adam said. ‘She deserves to be known.’
Pictured: Humanist Heritage Coordinator Madeleine Goodall (centre) with Humanist Heritage walking group, Mary Shelley’s grave
Global threats and policy victories
Sunday opened with a talk by Dr David Wearing, who set out the history of Britain’s relationships with Gulf monarchies – a century of backing authoritarian regimes, arming wars, and suppressing dissent, all while presenting itself as a champion of democracy. ‘If Britain’s conduct in the Gulf bears no relation to the values it claims to hold,’ he asked, ‘what do we actually want this country to be in the world?’
Humanists UK’s Policy Unit then took the stage to survey a remarkable year of victories: abortion decriminalisation; new powers to close illegal faith schools; progress on humanism’s place in Religious Education in both England and Northern Ireland; a government commitment to legal recognition of humanist marriages; and the successful campaign to force the Bible Society to retract the claims of its widely reported – and, it transpired, fraudulently researched – Quiet Revival report. Just days before the Festival, the Northern Ireland Assembly voted to repeal the UK’s last blasphemy laws, a landmark we have worked towards for years.
Maggie Ardiente, President of Humanists International, offered a global picture of the persecution against the non-religious. Maggie outlined the key findings of Humanists International’s Freedom of Thought Report. Apostasy and blasphemy laws still carry the death penalty in a 12 countries, and remain a crime in approximately 60 more. The export of Christian Nationalism – well-funded, well-organised, and now targeting the UK as its next major battleground for humanists, she said, and demands coordinated international resistance.
The Festival’s closing keynote fell to Professor Alice Roberts, whose book Domination traces how a persecuted movement on the margins of empire absorbed the administrative apparatus of Rome and came to dominate the Western world. Following the archaeological evidence from late-Roman Britain to Alexandria, she showed how the Church’s rise was less a story of providence than one of inheritance and ambition.
The Festival of Humanism ended with the Humanists UK AGM. Humanists UK’s Festival of Humanism 2027 will take place in the West Midlands with the city and venue to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
Pictured: Alice Roberts, keynote lecture, Festival of Humanism 2026
Notes
For further comment or information, media should contact Humanists UK Head of Press and Campaign Communications Nathan Stilwell at press@humanists.uk or phone 0203 675 0959 (media only).
Humanists UK is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by over 150,000 members and supporters, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We provide ceremonies, pastoral care, education, and support services benefitting over a million people every year and our campaigns advance humanist thinking on ethical issues, human rights, and equal treatment for all.