Guest Speakers

Bath Spa – A Utopia of the past, present and future?

In the 18th century Bath saw itself as an ideal city – a Utopia. Many European spa towns expressed Utopian ideals too– they were places of social tolerance, where classes mixed and the arts and sciences flourished. In true Enlightenment spirit spa towns aspired to bring health, education and culture, to those that came to ‘take the cure’. But the spa towns were also places of vice, gambling, and intrigue, they had to constantly change and re-invent themselves and they are still doing this today.

Join the Cafes of Europe debate with guests from over 20 of the most famous spa towns in Europe.

Part of a 10 day festival of talks, performance and events featuring novelists, poets, political observers and others at venues throughout the city.