Perspective shifting conversations are essentially the headlining performances at The Conscious Festival. Just swap out the lyrics for dialogue and leave a little bit more enlightened and little less hungover.
All across the board, festivals of all kinds are embracing talks. Why? Let us tell you.
It happened fast, almost overnight the media landscape shifted from digital magazines to engaging video and people REALLY started to prefer to get their information (or inspiration) from an actual person with a voice, a presence, and an idea rather than words with no face. Platforms like YouTube paved the way for shows like TED Talks to replace traditional storytelling for their wild ability to spread ideas while allowing audiences to connect with their speakers. Maybe we’ve become a bit lazy and lack the will to read too much or maybe there is just nothing like feeding from the knowledge of a passionate and magnetic individual.
In short, think of our speakers at the Conscious Festival like a series of TED Talks on sustainable topics, but live. These thinkers, movers, and shakers have mastered and conquered their areas and will deliver their thoughts on sustainable topics through super sexy and accessible TALKS. And this is what makes them awesome…
They’re superstars in their own right
We’ve got some sustainable celebrities in the house who are mavericks in their communities for leading, sharing, inspiring and activating change. All our diverse and dynamic speakers excite us but there are a couple that stands out in the not-to-miss category.
Alexandre Tusk is the founder of RefillMyBottle, an app that lets people find outposts to refill their bottles all over the world as an alternative to buying single-use plastic bottles. He’s also trained in the Wim Hof Method, not far off from Cyrotherapy, which is practice in which you immerse yourself in an ice bucket to alleviate a variety of symptoms. Don’t miss him discussing how he uses this treatment to break away from fears by having people challenge themselves.
ChauKei Ngai is modern yogini who has studied in yoga therapy, Ayurvedic medicine, Bikram yoga, and Ana Forrest yoga, and has been teaching yoga worldwide since 2006. She also gave an incredible TEDx talk in Liverpool on facing fears. Her keynote called Undress Your Fears is at the top of our list.
David Yeung is a big name as the Founder & CEO of Green Monday, a multi-faceted social venture with the mission to take on the world’s most pressing crises of climate change, food insecurity, and public health. He’ll be sharing his views on why people are not acting in the face of climate change and how we can overcome barriers to initiate action.
Christina Dean is the founder of Redress, a pioneering Hong Kong-based environmental charity working to prevent and transform textile waste across the fashion industry, and we’re welcoming her to talk about sustainable fashion and how it will help us slow the growth of the world down.
Paul Niel is an investor, explorer, adventurer, and dad who you might know from The Explorers Club and he will deliver an inspiring opening keynote
And finally, do not miss Lucia, a small primary student who will deliver a big keynote on youth activity. She looks to inspire and take action together with her peers while showing that even the super young generation can and should be doing great stuff towards builder their greener future.
Looking for more? Find the full list of speakers here.
They’ll teach you more than you’ll ever learn on a night out
We love a good panel because that’s where the brainstorming begins. Highlights here start with a coming together of some incredible powers to discuss unleashing your sexual power to better connect with yourself and your planet. With eco-investing on the rise alongside sustainability, we’re also introducing an insightful talk on how we can invest to make a difference where panelists like serial entrepreneur Tony Verb and Anita Varshney from SAP Next-Gen who will talk about the trends, truths, and transitions surrounding impact investing.
LUSH Cosmetics will deliver a keynote called ASK ME WHY I’M NAKED and during this session, we’ll be launching a new campaign so look out for that. Another panel on our hit list is called THE LIMITS TO GROWTH and will look at finding ways to use only what already exists in a world with finite resources with another promoting the plant-based movement. And to round up our recommendations is a panel on eco-travel and eco-resorts that includes a testimonial of a family living on a 100% upcycled resort and leave almost no carbon footprint.
Want to know more? Find the full list of speakers here.
They’re way smarter than you
Okay, that’s not entirely true. Everyone is bright in their own right but we can all stand to learn something from our neighbors. Many of our speakers are well on their ways towards the 10,000 hours it takes to make them a wizard within their passion and we can’t wait to hear what they have to share. Here are some of the topics on the table:
You’ll learn about altruism and resilience in sessions under the LIVE umbrella that teach new habits that will help you change your viewpoints to and put the needs of our others and your planet first.
You’ll learn about purpose and intrapreneurship in WORK sessions that will explore finding purpose at work by empowering those around you to activate change, to make investments that have and finding ways to work with those around in the workplace to solve sustainability issues.
You’ll learn about slowing down growth to speed up recovery when it comes to the finite resources available to us on our planet in the CONSUME sessions.
You’ll also learn about out(in)er exploration in TRAVEL talks that will encourage you to explore the outside to rediscover inside and lightening your footsteps while you’re out the traveling.
And much, much more…
They’re cheaper to see than a headliner at a music festival
Like exponentially cheaper! While entrance to The Conscious Festival is free (but don’t forget to register here), TALKS hold a super nominal fee. Each session is HK$185 or you can attend all four for HK$490. Find the full schedules, information on talks and speakers as well as tickets to purchase here.
They “perform” in the daytime so you can still get to bed early
Dreams do come true (for adults anyway). Talks take place at 10:50am and 2:20pm on both Saturday and Sunday. There is an abundance of hip and healthy food and beverages that you can indulge on while you taking in the talks. And yes, there are seats at our festivals, you’re welcome.
The Conscious Festival by Green Is The New Black takes place on Saturday 13th April & Sunday 14th April 2019 at the Kerry Hotel 38 號 Hung Luen Rd, Hung Hom Bay, Hong Kong.