Aspen Ideas Festival 2018

The Aspen Ideas Festival is the nation’s premier, public gathering place for leaders from around the globe and across many disciplines to engage in deep and inquisitive discussion of the ideas and issues that both shape our lives and challenge our times. Some 350 presenters, 200 sessions, and 3,000 attendees comprise the annual Festival, launched in 2005, on the Aspen Institute’s campus in Aspen, Colorado.

Imagine some of the most inspired and innovative thinkers, writers, artists, business people, teachers, and other leaders drawn from myriad fields and from across the country and around the world – gathered in a single place, ready to teach, speak, lead, question and answer – all interacting with an audience of thoughtful people who have stepped back from their day-to-day routines to delve deeply into a world of ideas, thought, and discussion.

The Festival is divided into three parts:

Spotlight Health / June 21 – 24
Festival 1 / June 24 – June 27
Festival 2 / June 27 – June 30

Programming Tracks

Read about 2018 Program Tracks

Spotlight Health:

• The Cutting Edge of Medicine and Science

• Disrupting Health Systems

• Healthy Communities

• Our Planet, Our Health

Festival 1:

• Seismic Shifts

• Our Imperfect Union

• Globalization Revisited

• The Art of Justice

• Design for the New Normal

• The Sexes

• Freedom of Speech and the Marketplace of Ideas

• Leadership in a Time of Change

Festival 2:

• Seismic Shifts

• Our Imperfect Union

• Globalization Revisited

• The Art of Justice

• The Genius of Animals

• Staying Human in a High-Tech World

• Moved by Music

• Leadership in a Time of Change