Sharon Horgan, Russell T Davies, Sophia Bush and more announced as SXSW 2026 keynote speakers

South by South West landed with a bang last summer for the inaugural British iteration of the Texan festival. And by bang, we mean plenty of cultural events, talks, and glitzy movie premieres. Luckily for film buffs, culture curators, and celeb spotters across the capital, the hit festival is back for 2026 – and with it, even more big names.

The keynote speakers for this year’s festival have been announced, and not only are there literally hundreds, but there are some very exciting names in the mix, too. BAFTA-winning Russell T Davies, known for hits like It’s a Sin, Queer as Folk, and Doctor Who, is speaking as part of the Screen, Story, & Sound segment. Joining him is another award-winning writer, Sharon Horgan, who is responsible for hits like Catastrophe, Motherland, Bad Sisters, and others.

Other notable names on the seemingly endless list include: actress Sophia Bush, the iconic Ruby Wax, podcaster Jamie Lang, internet personality Sam Thompson, Ben and Jerry’s founder Ben Cohen, GK Barry, Hinge CEO Jackie Jantos, DJ AG, Lioness Jill Scott, broadcaster Roman Kemp, and writer Yomi Adegoke.

The festival’s speakers are varied to say the least, but if you were looking for a pithy overview, it mainly consists of CEOs, founders, VCs, AI experts, journalists, and general smart people. This tends to make more sense when you know the main categories, which are: Innovation & Transformation, Society Rewired, Technology & AI, Marketing & Advertising, Creator Economy, Game & Interactive Worlds, and Venture, amongst others.

The first wave of films being shown at the festival has also been announced. The lineup includes the Marco Pierre White narrated BTS documentary Feast or Famine, the mind-bending Spanish feature La Carn, Colombian sci-fi thriller Barrio Triste, and an AI documentary from Oscar and BAFTA winning Elena Andreicheva called Intelligence Rising.

Another exciting part of the festival is the UK premieres. This year’s UK premieres include Amoeba, Becoming, On the Road, Father, and Hijra, to name a few. The full lineup and announcements can be found of the official SXSW website.

According to SXSW, the festival is designed to “[build] a bridge between international talent and the U.K., between film and the wider creative industries, and points of connection between film, music, art and technology.” The programme for this year is “ celebrating those filmmakers and artists who are exploring and exploding the possibilities of filmmaking. London is a global city, and cinema is an international language. What we’re looking for — and what we are excited to bring to London audiences this summer — is that electricity of discovering something truly groundbreaking from places they weren’t looking in.”

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