Big Brue Festival
A new festival of ideas, culture and conversation
Sat 19 & Sun 20 Sept 2026
Hauser & Wirth, Bruton, Somerset
Big Brue brings together some of the most compelling voices in public life for a weekend of lively, thoughtful conversation at Hauser & Wirth, Bruton, Somerset.
Across two days, leading writers, artists, journalists, scientists, campaigners and cultural figures will explore the ideas shaping our lives. The programme ranges from politics, global affairs and artificial intelligence to art, family, creativity, nature, psychology and the search for a more hopeful future.
Among those appearing are Bob Geldof, Dominic West, Prue Leith, George Osborne, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, William Dalrymple, Peter Frankopan, Clarissa Ward, Julia Samuel, Carlos Acosta, Helen Fielding, Adwoa Aboah, Bruce Parry, James Harding, Misha Glenny, Esther Freud, Colin Grant, Mariella Frostrup and many more.
Read more intro...
Many Big Brue events explore how we can disagree agreeably, listen across divides and find common ground. Family Matters offers a particularly personal example, as Prue Leith and her son, Reform MP Danny Kruger, discuss how families can live with profound differences of opinion, including political ones, without allowing those differences to pull them apart.
Elsewhere, internationally celebrated dancer and choreographer Carlos Acosta joins novelist Esther Freud to explore how childhood shapes creativity, while environmentalist Ben Goldsmith considers how we can make more space for nature and restore the wild world around us. Other highlights include Bob Geldof and Dominic West going head-to-head in a joyous Poetry Battle; Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe reflecting on creativity, resistance and the crafts she made while imprisoned in Iran; and George Osborne joining leading figures from the art world to ask what museums should become. Other events examine the new world order, migration, childhood and technology, women and power, artificial intelligence, the future of journalism and the lessons we learn from grief, love and experience.
Alongside the talks in the Marquee and Pavilion, the Big Brue Festival Hub will offer live music, food, free workshops, performances and a lively programme of Speakers’ Corner events throughout the weekend, all within the remarkable setting of Durslade Farm.
The Hauser & Wirth Somerset galleries and gardens will remain free and open to the public as usual throughout the weekend.
Big Brue is a festival for curiosity rather than certainty: a place for serious ideas, unexpected connections and conversations that continue long after the weekend is over.
