Hey, what’s the big idea? It’s the Louisville-hosted International IdeaFestival, where a wide variety of imaginative thinkers from around the world will show off their conceptual brilliance.
If one were to nominate a shortlist of the most influential artists, scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs shaping our world today, it would probably include at least a few of the conceptual luminaries coming to Louisville to participate in this year’s International IdeaFestival, designed to bring together people with diverse backgrounds, knowledge and perspectives to inspire out-of-the-box thinking and a cross-fertilization of ideas.
The festival is a four-day event (Oct. 11-14) that will take place at multiple downtown venues with its headquarters at the Galt House. More than 35 bright minds known for "pushing the envelope" around the globe are scheduled for lectures, concerts, open discussions and demonstrations at various times from morning to night.
The IdeaFestival is the brainchild of Kris Kimel, president of Kentucky Science & Technology Corp., located in Lexington. The development of the festival grew out Kimel’s interest in the cultivation of ideas, evident in his leadership of a company that invests in technology start-ups and university research statewide. The first festival was held in Lexington in 2000, with others following in ’02 and ’04. With expanding attendance and plans to make the Ideafestival an annual event, the decision was made to relocate it to Louisville. "We had outgrown Lexington, but IdeaFestival is a Kentucky product and we wanted to keep it in the state," says Joanne Lang, executive vice president of KSTC. "Our goal is to represent Louisville, Kentucky to the world as the place to be for ideas and innovation." Equally important for festival planners, in an effort to lure enlightened Louisvillians and out-of-town visitors, is to keep ticket prices modest and hold many events free of charge. "We want to be accessible to all," Lang says. "The audience is as important as the menu of speakers."
Festival-goers will have the chance to rub shoulders with such presenters as Ray Kurzweil, whose most recent book, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transc/files/storyimages/Biology, forwards his intriguing view of humans and machines merging in the near future. And broadening horizons — literally — is Burt Rutan, who in 1982 founded Scaled Composites, the world’s most productive aerospace prototype development company. Rutan’s newest design, the SpaceShipOne, made international headlines in 2004 as the first privately funded manned aircraft to reach space.
The roster goes on to include Steve Curwood, executive producer and host of NPR’s Living on Earth program; noted Dutch landscape architect Adriaan Geuze; Madonna-favorite Sebastien Foucan, co-founder of "Parkour," a new urban extreme sport; Zade Dirani, a Jordanian pianist and peace activist; cancer-drug inventor Paula Bates; and John Gaeta, the artist responsible for the groundbreaking visual effects in the movie The Matrix.
For more names and information visit www.ideafestival.com or call 938-8999.