Leeds Digital Festival Moved Online Amidst Covid-19 Outbreak

The Leeds Digital Festival, which is the UK's largest tech event, is hosting its spring event online, as a response to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Virtual events are set to go ahead in April, with the physical festival expected to take place in the autumn instead.

Delegates were able to log in online and take part in several sessions. From social media masterclasses through to SEO strategy, web development education and automation talks, the festival did cover all areas of digital marketing and strategy through an online platform.

“The Covid-19 crisis has had an unprecedented impact on the meeting industry, with the postponement or even cancellation of thousands of events across the world. In this current climate, it's incredibly encouraging to see how a local, home-grown event such as the Leeds Digital Festival can adapt and change practices to continue to run in-spite of this. We are pleased that all of the knowledge sharing, learning and networking will still be able to take place, as it is more important than ever for professionals in this industry,” says Claire Heap, Head of Conference Leeds.

“We're very much looking forward to seeing the Digital Festival go truly digital at the end of this month, really providing a shining example of our strength in the digital sector as a city, and also for the rest of the event when it happens again later this year.”

Stuart Clarke, Festival Director of the Leeds Digital Festival:

“We had over 240 events submitted for this year's festival, so it was disappointing when the Covid-19 crisis forced a postponement of physical events. However, you can't keep the Leeds digital community down and when we decided to put on an online festival. We were overwhelmed by the level of support we received.”

April's online Festival was featuring over 50 virtual events and did provide a key role in bringing the sector together.

“We will also be back for our two-week physical Festival from 21st September, where we can continue to celebrate and collaborate,” says Stuart Clarke.

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