The five-day festival starts on March 7th and features digital-focused events across the city - centred on Digital City Expo at Manchester Central on March 9th and 10th, which will bring together thousands of digital professionals to network and collaborate as well as hearing from thought leaders in their specialisms.

Across multiple stages, the expo will feature talks on tech, ecommerce, marketing, media and more - with keynotes, masterclasses, Q&As, and more forming the full content programme.

Many keynote speakers and panel guests have already been announced - including figures from Hootsuite, EY, New Look, Google, Weetabix and much more. The full agenda revealed so far has now been published online, so you can plan your visit to the expo.

Registration for Digital City Expo is free and open now, giving you access to all these talks and so much more. Click here to secure your place.

Thought leaders appearing at the expo

Having already revealed dozens of leading names as appearing at the event, today there are yet more to announce, including the CEO of Orla Kiely, Executive Editor of TechBlast UK, COO of Northcoders, and many more.

They span fashion, tech skills, gamification, digital innovation, and so much more - and will all be present at the upcoming expo to share their insights.

Announced today:

• Gemma Banks, Senior Marketing Director, EMEA & APAC, Klaviyo

• Dermott Rowan, CEO, Orla Kiely

• Jack Gibson, Director, Hitsearch

• Linda Chandler, Industry Lead - UK Smart Cities, Microsoft

• George Stuffins, Manager, Leyton

• Dominic Landman, Head of Major Accounts, Leyton

• Richard Barlow, Founder & CEO, wejo

• Christopher Maguire, Executive Editor, TechBlast UK

• Jennie Johnson MBE, Co-founder & CEO, My First Five Years

• Kevin Jones, Co-founder & CEO, Shopblocks

• Hannah Bewley, Senior Research Manager, IAB UK

• Rachael Kotadia, Head of Marketing, RedEye

• Amul Batra, COO, Northcoders

• Ben Miller, Senior Director of Customer Success, Klaviyo

• Scott Shashua, Managing Director, The Couture Club

• Ross Worswick, Creative Director, The Couture Club

• Cari Kirby, Head of Marketing, Peek & Poke

• Alex Parmar-Yee, UK Strategy Lead, Awin affiliate network

• Amy Woods, CEO & Founder, Content 10x

• Tom Day, MD, Screen Pages

More partner events completing the festival week

Outside the expo, Digital City Festival comprises events such as the official Leaders Reception sponsored by MIDAS and the Digital City Awards at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester - as well as events from partners city-wide.

With a number of firsts already revealed including SocialNorth and the Esports Festival at HOST Salford, more are now available to explore. Registration for all partner events are handled directly, so please visit the What’s On page to find out how to take part.

Let’s see what new partner events are taking place in the festival week:

• The Mobile First Transformation Panel, organised by Indiespring, is hosted at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester on the evening of Monday, March 7th.

• Experience a metaverse product showcase along with the opportunity to network in the environment via your own mobile, desktop or VR device at the Metaverse Showcase & Networking Event hosted by 3D Online from 3pm on the 7th.

• ‘The New Leader, The New Insights; Decisions based on facts not feelings’ is a free-to-attend 90-minute ‘breakfast byte’ session hosted by In-House Health and Cube Thinking aimed at leaders from all sectors, taking place on March 9th at Asha's Manchester.

• Also on the 9th, join Visioning Lab for their ‘Intro to art, Augmented Reality (AR) and NFTs’ hosted at Manchester Central Library from 5pm, to gain more insights into the emerging tech.

• The Reframe Women In Tech Conference 2022 is hosted all day on March 11th at the Emirates Old Trafford Lancashire Cricket Club, organised by Tech Returners and The Confidence Community - featuring 32 leading speakers.

Yet more announcements are still to come about content at Digital City Festival, so make sure you're a part of this unmissable week.