OUR 2017 LINE-UP
Our speakers are movers, shakers, trailblazers and change makers, all selected because they stand for something so much bigger than just their achievements.
If it's true that you're a reflection of the people you spend your time with, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. All of our speakers will be with throughout the weekend, mingling and sharing ideas even when they're not on stage. With comedy and music in the evenings, along with all-day chats around the campfire, you'll never get a collection of people like this in one place, outside of Yestival!
The great thing about Yestival is that the speakers don't just rock up for 30 minutes, do their thing and then leave. They'll be lurking next to you in the dinner queue (in a non creepy way), sitting next to the fire, popping into the podcast tent for a live 5-minute interview, just enjoying the festival as you are.
The message is clear: yes, they've done something cool and that's why they get the stage for a while, but they're also normal, they're human, we're all ordinary but capable of the extraordinary.
In 2017 we have a brilliant line-up of over 30 brilliant humans (big and small), and we'll slowly drip feed them onto this page in the weeks leading up to Yestival.
We've got some speakers back from previous Yestivals only if they've done something new, but there are also lots and lots of new faces. Each of them a wonderful example of what can happen when you act on one, wonderful decision.
Speakers, workshops, one-on-ones, live interviews and skill sessions, get ready for an amazing weekend!
SCHEDULE
Throughout the weekend we'll be building up a steady head of steam, starting with ideas, inspiration before how to conquer hurdles, develop audacity and then, on Sunday morning a blueprint to ensure that Monday morning will never look the same again!
GATES OPEN AT 4PM Friday 20th, intros and dinner at 6:45pm and then evening line-up starts at 8pm
FRIDAY - 8PM TO 1AM
DAVE CORNTHWAITE, ADAM CONLON, AMY & ELLA MEEK, OPEN MICS, SARAH OUTEN, LOUIS-PHILIPPE LONCKE, ANNA MCNUFF, KRISTINA PALTEN
SATURDAY - 8AM TO 1AM
PHOEBE SMITH, DAVE CORNTHWAITE, DAVID WILLIS, ED MARCH, JO BRADSHAW, CATHERINE EDSELL, THE MEEK FAMILY, JESSI TUCKER, CHRIS COWLEY, NEREA CARRYON, WAYNE RUSSELL, ANNA MCNUFF, JON DOOLAN, MIRKO BUZZELLI, ANT GODDARD, SHARA DILLON, MAREN FRANK, KATE HALLAM, AMY BAKER, PHOEBE TICKELL, NICOLA MILLER, ANDY BARTLETT, LAURA KENNINGTON, OPEN MICS, EMMA LAWTON, DARREN EDWARDS
SUNDAY - 8AM TO 3PM
REZA PAKRAVAN, LINDSEY COLE, BEX BAND, NIGEL VARDY, NATALIA COHEN, LAURA MAISEY, DAVE CORNTHWAITE AND THE BEGINNING OF A WHOLE NEW MINDSET...
And your hosts...
Dave Cornthwaite
Since deciding his cat shouldn't be having a better life than him Dave has embarked on endless adventures, social projects and other things that make Mondays worth waking up for. From paddleboarding the Mississippi and swimming the Missouri, to skateboarding across Australia and riding a tricycle with a sail across the Atacama Desert, Dave's adventures led him to found SayYesMore, the YesTribe and Yestival, and he'll undoubtedly share some tales from road and water in between introducing other speakers to the stage.
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Anna McNuff
Elise only started running in 2013, on the back of a New Year’s resolution, but she soon started to wonder just how far her legs could take her. On November 1st 2015 she set off to find out, attempting to run a lap of the British coast whilst carrying all of her kit on her back. What followed was a great big British adventure, featuring a lot of cake and a terrible fear of cows. Elise returned to Greenwich 301 days later, having ran 5000 miles and truly explored both her home country and her own capabilities.
Anna's new release 'The Pants of Perspective' - a 3,000km running adventure through the wilds of New Zealand - is out now!
Laura Kennington
Laura Kennington is a British adventure athlete with a passion for the endurance capability of the human body and encouraging others to get outside. Previous adventures include solo kayaking in Russia and solo cycling the world's longest coastal route in Ireland.
With adventures ranging from kayaking in Russia and cycling the world’s longest coastal route in Ireland, to circumnavigating 3 Channel Islands as part of an extreme triathlon and running the length of Fuerteventura – Laura’s certain we are all capable of much more than we realise.
Adam Conlon
Adam Conlon is a compact story-telling Irishman with a love of adventure, talking and trying new things. He also holds the unofficial Guinness World record for the world’s shortest career attention span. So far he has been a soldier, sailor, ski guide and speaker to name a few and he ain't finished.
Despite still having an irrational fear of the dark and having never even been in a fight in the school playground, somehow Adam became the UK’s front line of defence and deployed with the British Army on two all-inclusive army holidays to Afghanistan. With tales of giggling in ridiculously dangerous situations, Adam’s stories reveals the comic coping mechanisms that goes on behind the scenes.
This serious lack of attention span has meant he has found himself hilariously out of his depth in so many different careers across the world. Luckily the highs and lows of his rollercoaster career path have provided him with plenty of content for his stories.
Adam is still to this day a schools careers advisors worst nightmare.
This year Adam will be proudly joining Dave Cornthwaite again on stage to host the weekend and is proud to again be Yestival’s Chief Health and Safety Officer, a role which he takes very very very seriously indeed. Seriously!
The Meek Family
If you know a family who makes you smile as much as the Meeks, we need to meet them! These guys were the stars of Yestival 2015 and this year they'll be back with three different talks. Amy and Ella will take to the stage on Friday night, oh and they've got a treat in store for you! Make sure you get along to their Saturday workshops too, and say hi as they rush around the festival site making films and being adventurous!
Meet the Meeks
Tim, Kerry, Amy (13) and Ella (11) have been travelling the UK and beyond for the last two years, living initially a caravan and more latterly in a motorhome, looking for adventure and education (EdVenture), and opportunities to spend quality family time together (often in the outdoors). They believe in DOING and not HAVING, and value disposable time over disposable income. They often get asked how can they afford it or about the legalities of taking your children out of school, as well as lots of other things!
Why don’t you come along to this Q and A session where each of the family members will answer any question you throw at them (as long as they are not too hard).
Living a hybrid lifestyle
Nearly two and a half years ago, Tim, Kerry and their daughters, Amy and Ella, set out on a ‘year out’ that took them in search of education and adventure around the UK and beyond. Suffice to say, the plan didn’t work out – in a good way – and with no one in the family wanting to stop, they continue to live the dream. However, as children grow and change, so too should plans, and it’s the next phase of their plan that Tim and Kerry will be talking about at Yestival: Project Basecamp i.e. how to live a hybrid lifestyle.
Fiona Quinn
Workshop: How to choose a startup idea & make it happen
If you find it difficult to know which idea you should run with we'll focus in to create your top 3 idea criteria, helping you choose an idea that works for you to make life awesome.
From this we'll collectively take a first step to creating our startups. What's the one thing that will move you forward the most in the next week? Whatever it is, let's make it happen.
You can also sign up for paid one-on-one coaching sessions with Fiona (see the main About Yestival page)
Tom Helbig
Tom re-evaluated life in his late 30's. This process created three principles to guide the rest of his life. Live Active, Laugh More and Inspire All. Through tales of adventure, overcoming personal challenges and living simply, Tom will lead Yestival friends through a transformation that will spur an enthusiasm for making things bold things happen. Tom has a unique passion for showing people there is adventure in uncommon places through his lifestyle and playful outdoor company, Tomfoolery Outdoors, in Dayton, OH USA and he'll will draw on his experiences from a bicycle trip across America, kayak circumnavigation of the Florida Keys(USA), Fatbiking the Outer Banks(USA), 40x40 for 40 challenges, local microadventures and 20 years as an outdoor adventure event planner.
David Willis
David Willis is a teacher of Bushcraft and Wilderness Living Skills. He can be found baking bread and rustling up tasty meals over a campfire, whittling spoons, foraging for edibles, walking in the woods and soaking up everything nature has to offer. He has served with the Royal Engineers in Belize, spent time living with the Maasai in Kenya, motorcycled around Europe, and built and paddled his canoe along UK waterways. Escaping the corporate world was his best decision ever and David now loves teaching adults and children, sharing the skills they’ll need to enjoy living life outdoors.
Chris Millar
I’m Chris: full time Assistant Psychologist, part time adventurer and wholly passionate about the benefits exercise and adventure can bring to mental health and wellbeing. I’m holding a short discussion exploring how community, positive mindset and adventurous thinking all play a part in mental health drawing on personal and professional experiences. There will be an opportunity to practice some mindfulness and the chance to share experiences.
Nerea Carrion
From being shy, negative and insecure to feeling friendly, free and safe!
Nerea is not a conventional person since the moment you meet her you can feel it. Literally you can feel it, her energy is powerful, positive and contagious.
After having coached 1000s of people on the last three years through The Happy World Company, having worked/ inspired/ trained companies as Google London, Decathlon UK, King’s College University (London), in Spain, Australia & UK she ready to take over the world by inspiring and helping people feel amazing with themselves and with the world.
One of her beliefs is: If everyone pursue their deepest passions, love and respect themselves, then the world would be very different! And everyone would contribute much more than we are at the moment, so she created The Happy World Company where she is organizing workshops & seminars that involve different techniques such as Emotional Intelligence, Personal Development, Coaching and NLP in a very creative and innovative way.
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