The 5th annual festival that lifts the lid on everything death & dying, through conversations, interactive events, workshops, art and craft sessions, live music, poetry and performance from around the world.
Featuring an international line-up of end of life and palliative carers, funeral directors, grief supporters, artists, writers, doctors, filmmakers, pet bereavement experts, academics, change makers and everyone in between. Lifting The Lid is informative, creative, fun, joyful and life affirming, catering for people of all levels of interest.
Three days of ideas, information, arts, crafts and ground-breaking insights. We’re really proud of the 50+ speakers, collaborators, panels and activities we’ve curated and everyone involved is volunteering their time, there will be opportunities throughout the weekend to support individuals and organisations if you choose to. We have hand-picked speakers and collaborators carefully to bring you a diverse, varied and engaging, international programme of events.
Join us for all or any part of this weekend-long programme of events. You can pick and choose the sessions you want to join and create your own schedule. Meet other like-minded people, exchange ideas, share experiences and contact details if you choose to, and lay the foundations for new, fruitful relationships in the death positive community.
Death is of course something that will affect every one of us but can still be extremely challenging to discuss. Lifting The Lid offers audiences the opportunity to find out as much or as little as they like, allowing people to dip in and out as they feel comfortable. We hope this annual event continues to encourage an acceptance of the inevitability of loss and impermanence, and removes some of the fear of talking about death and dying so people can ask questions and talk openly and honestly about their experiences.
The Art of Dying: Cross-Cultural Journeys Through Death, Ritual, and Design
with Dallas Black
What can ancient rites and innovative design teach us about how we honour life and death? This talk journeys into two distinctly different places—selected from my explorations and documentation abroad for their strikingly different approaches to death rituals and remembrance: Toraja’s sacred highlands and Tokyo’s futuristic memorial spaces. Through the lenses of culture, tradition, geography, ritual, design, and technology, this talk will unpack how contrasting rituals and innovations shape our relationship with death, encouraging a deeper reflection on life, remembrance, and the shared human need for connection.