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The Financial Times Hosts First US FTWeekend Festival at The Reach 

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Henry Kissinger speaking at FTWeekend Festival: US Edition (Courtesy of The Financial Times) 

The Financial Times hosted its inaugural FTWeekend Festival: US Edition at The Reach at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C this past Saturday, May 7th. The Festival showcased the best of The Financial Times and FT Magazine journalism, exploring big ideas in politics, economics, climate and culture. The launch of the US edition follows the success of the annual FTWeekend Festival in London, which began six years ago.

Topics ranged from the new world order and fresh perspectives on communism and capitalism, to style in a post-Covid world, and writing in an age of intolerance and southern cuisine. The theme of the event was The Bigger Picture: A Global Take on the Ideas Stimulating, Diverting – and Unsettling – Our Age.

Alice Lascelles, FT Drinks Columnist, and Dr. Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie’s Director of Whisky Creation, Distilling & Whisky Stocks, during their talk about the future of innovation in whisky (Courtesy of the Financial Times) 

The FT Festival featured renowned experts and commentators, including veteran statesman Henry Kissinger; author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; author of The Palace Papers Tina Brown; historian Simon Schama; and restaurateur Daniel Humm. 

Alongside these speakers, some of the FT’s most distinguished journalists took the stage, including editor Roula Khalaf; US managing editor Peter Spiegel; US editor-at-large Gillian Tett; and chief economics commentator Martin Wolf; FTWeekend editor Alec Russell; and How to Spend It editor Jo Ellison.