TEDxBrighton 2015: Losing Control

TEDxBrighton will be hosted this year by Laurence Rickard - the writer, actor, and Brighton resident '“ who is the star of Horrible Histories, Yonderland, and Bill, the soon-to-be-released comedy film.

He will be introducing an array of speakers during an event whose theme is Losing Control. They include James Wong, the BBC ethnobotanist, who studies how people use plants; Andy Torbet, the adventurer; and Jason Holt, who has advised the government about apprenticeships.

There will be also be live music playing throughout the day, with Lorraine Bowen, star of Britain's Got Talent, cellist Bela Emerson, Nick Pynn, and Kate Daisy Grant.

TED is a non-profit organisation that started as a four-day event in California almost 30 years ago devoted to spreading ideas. Since then a number of locally-organised independent TEDx events (x signifying independent) have sprung up, including the popular one in Brighton, which this year takes place on Friday, October 30 at Brighton Dome

Explaining the Losing Control theme, organisers said: "We'll be letting lose a riot of new ideas, setting unconventional theories free, and breaking down the doors of everyday thinking.

"Playing host to speakers from both sides of the line, we'll be hearing from those working hard to establish control where it's desperately needed, others fighting for our common freedom, and others who've given it all up to blow in the wind.

"Whether you wave a flag for intellectual anarchy or crave the comfort and security of law and order, join us on Friday, October 30, when - for just one day - we'll be throwing open the doors and letting loose a programme of inspiring and enlightening talks."

This year's TEDxBrighton will also host a new and improved Ideas Lab in the Corn Exchange, running alongside the main event. The lab will be open to the public and is a forum for innovative technologies and businesses to exhibit their work.

For more information - including a full list of speakers - visit: www.tedxbrighton.com. Follw: @TEDxBrighton. Full-price tickets are available for Â£35, with concessionary tickets at Â£20.