Bristol Technology Festival returns for its third edition later this year with the city hosting more than 50 events with themes spanning the breadth and depth of its growing tech and digital sector.
The current plans are to hold the events in a hybrid model with a selection of online talks and others at limited-capacity venues. The festival is scheduled to run from October 10 to 15. 
The festival was launched in 2019 with a mission to showcase the sheer scale of technology emerging from Bristol’s ecosystem while also sharing the stories of the entrepreneurs, engineers and creatives making it happen.
Last year’s festival hosted 53 events, attracting more than 5,000 attendees dialling in from places as far flung as Singapore and San Francisco. The target for this year is to reach an even larger audience.
As home to tech businesses as diverse as movie database IMDb, semiconductor developer Graphcore, energy supplier OVO and household appliance manufacturer Dyson – which has its software and technology hub in the city – Bristol is widely recognised and acclaimed as the UK’s top tech centre outside London.
It also has a long-standing history of innovation as well as a highly supportive and open ecosystem and a creative approach to technological challenges.
Festival organisers say that while 2020 was undoubtedly a challenging year for everyone, it underlined the importance of technology in our lives and demonstrated how it can help connect us. 
This year’s festival will seek to capture people’s hopes and predictions for the next decade, exploring the prevalent questions such as: in what ways will technology influence how we live and work? What impact will the tech cluster have locally, and globally?
The festival is coordinated by a group of volunteers from across the ecosystem including representatives from financial services group Hargreaves Lansdown, software development company Newicon, sector group TechSPARK and innovation hub Engine Shed. Events throughout the festival will be crowdsourced from organisations across the city.
These include tech companies, public bodies, schools, community interest groups and charities. Events are open to people in the tech sector, business leaders from across sectors, visitors wanting to know more about the region, and anyone wanting to know more about the city’s digital industries.
Engine Shed will host a launch of the festival alongside Deloitte Digital to bring together key people in the sector to understand how tech will support the growth of the city in the future. 
Also for the ninth consecutive year, TechSPARK will host its annual SPARKies awards, when around 500 guests will gather to shine a light on the very best people, products and companies that make up the tech sector in Bristol, Bath and the broader West of England region.
FinTech West will host its annual summit to deep dive into the latest innovations, connect business in one of the UK’s key fintech communities.
A Festival Community Partner initiative will be launched giving businesses the chance to show their support by becoming one of 50 community partners, with all money invested into giving the festival a long-term sustainable future.
This year’s headline sponsors is IT infrastructure provider Softcat, which has an office in Bristol.
Rob Parkinson said: “We are delighted to be involved in the 2021 Bristol Technology Festival. Bringing together local technology communities and shining a light on all the innovation the region has to showcase is an important way to drive collaboration and industry growth.
“The past 18 months have been tough for many industries but technology has come through as an enabler and has made many re-think how they interact and do business.
“As the impact of technology continues to grow forums like the Bristol Technology Festival have never been more important and we are pleased to be supporting it.”
For more information go to https://www.bristoltechfest.org/
