Freedom Fest 2026 is a new one-day Manchester event bringing together people interested in privacy, digital rights, civil liberties and the technologies that can help individuals retain greater control over their digital lives.
Taking place at the Pendulum Hotel in Manchester on Saturday 21 November 2026, Freedom Fest will bring campaigners, journalists, technologists, developers, privacy advocates and members of the public together for a programme of talks, panel discussions, workshops and practical demonstrations.
As more aspects of everyday life move into digital systems, questions around identity, privacy and individual control are becoming increasingly important. Freedom Fest will explore issues including Digital ID, surveillance, facial recognition, encryption, censorship and free expression, financial privacy, digital ownership, open-source technology and digital sovereignty.
The event is designed to go beyond simply discussing the problems. A significant part of Freedom Fest is dedicated to Freedom Tech — practical technologies and open systems that can give people more control over their devices, communications, information and data.
Participating organisations include Tor and GrapheneOS, alongside speakers and contributors working across privacy technology, journalism, digital rights, civil liberties and open-source communities.
Visitors will be able to hear from people working directly on these issues, take part in discussions and workshops, and discover tools and technologies that may provide alternatives to increasingly centralised online platforms and services.
Freedom Fest is intended for a broad audience. Attendees do not need to be technology experts or already involved in privacy campaigning. The programme is being created both for people working professionally in these areas and for anyone who simply wants to better understand how changes in technology and public policy may affect their privacy, identity, communications, money and freedom in the years ahead.
Topics throughout the day will range from the political and legal questions surrounding surveillance and digital identity to hands-on discussions about privacy tools, secure communications, open-source software and technologies designed around user control.
Freedom Fest is being organised by the team behind Bitfest, Manchester’s Bitcoin, Nostr and open-technology festival. The events remain distinct, with Freedom Fest deliberately focused on the wider public conversation around privacy, civil liberties and technology, while taking place alongside the wider Bitfest weekend in Manchester.
Freedom Fest 2026 takes place at the Pendulum Hotel, Manchester, on Saturday 21 November 2026.
Tickets are £49 for adults, £21 for children and £119 for a family ticket covering two adults and two children.
For the latest programme information, speakers and tickets, visit freedomfest.now.
