The Creative Cities Convention (CCC) has announced that Liverpool will host its eighth annual event on May 6–7, 2026.
The event is dedicated to professionals making film, TV and digital content outside London and travels to a different UK city each year.
The 2026 Creative Cities Convention will be staged at Camp and Furnace, located in the creative and digital hub of the Baltic Triangle.
While hosted in Liverpool, the convention will shine a spotlight on the creative strengths of the wider North West region, from world-class TV and film production to cutting-edge digital, gaming and immersive content.
This year’s theme, “Where TV Meets Digital,” will explore how traditional storytelling and emerging technologies are converging to shape the future of the UK’s screen industries — with artificial intelligence, new production technologies, and cross-platform storytelling all on the agenda.
The Convention will kick off with a welcome address from Tony Hall, Lord Hall of Birkenhead CBE, whose former roles include Director General of the BBC and Deputy Chair of Channel 4.
BAFTA-winning journalist and filmmaker Mobeen Azhar returns as host. New appointments to the team include Sol Papadopoulos, founder of Liverpool’s Hurricane Films, as Executive Producer; Nina Harrison-Bell as head of partnerships.
Last year’s convention in Bradford coincided with the city’s UK City of Culture celebrations. It featured record delegate numbers, a debut Skills Summit, public screenings, commissioner meetings and a buzzing YouTube Creators Collective networking event.
Headline speakers included outgoing BBC Director-General Tim Davie, YouTube UK MD Alison Lomax, soap stars from Hollyoaks and Coronation Street and the Warp Films team behind the year’s biggest global drama, Adolescence and groundbreaking drama Reunion. The Skills Summit will return in Liverpool in 2026.
Natalie Wyatt – Managing Director Liverpool City Region Destination Partnership said: ‘‘We are delighted that Creative Cities Convention has chosen Liverpool as the host city in 2026. Liverpool will extend its warmest welcome to delegates, and they will no doubt feel at home here in a city that is synonymous for creative talent where innovative industries flourish especially within the arts and media sectors. Not only will it showcase why Liverpool City Region is a fantastic place to visit, it will be the leading meeting place for creative people making or distributing network screen content outside London.’’
Lisa Campbell, Executive Director of the Creative Cities Convention, said: “Liverpool’s creative spirit is legendary, and the North West is one of the UK’s most exciting regions for screen production and digital innovation. With its thriving TV, film and gaming communities, it’s the perfect place to explore how television meets new forms of storytelling. The city’s talent and energy will make 2026 a landmark year for the Creative Cities Convention.”
Staff Reporter
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