Aspen Ideas Festival Announces Key Themes for 2025

Taking place during the 75-year anniversary of the Aspen Institute on its celebrated Bauhaus designed campus, the 2025 Festival will draw on the historic legacy of the Institute.

From June 25–July 1, the Aspen Ideas Festival will bring together hundreds of speakers and thousands of attendees and fellows in the Rocky Mountains to explore the ideas that will help us understand today and shape tomorrowAspen, CO, November 19, 2024 – Passes go on sale today for the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival, which will take place from June 25–July 1, 2025 in Aspen, Colorado. The festival is preceded by Aspen Ideas: Health from June 22-25, and opens with Aspen Ideas Festival 1 from June 25-28 followed by Aspen Ideas Festival 2 from June 28-July 1. Early registration pricing is discounted by $1,000 and available until December 31st. Passes can be purchased here, and members of the media interested in covering the festival are invited to apply for press credentials to attend.Taking place during the 75-year anniversary of the Aspen Institute on its celebrated Bauhaus designed campus, the 2025 Festival will draw on the historic legacy of the Institute. Attendees will engage with some of the world’s most brilliant thinkers and doers, as we hold deep discussions around the ideas that will help build understanding today and shape tomorrow. The festival is organized around seven key themes, featured below.2025 Program Tracks

  • Breakthroughs
    Innovation is moving at warp speed, driven by visionaries in all fields and from all walks of life. What are the great breakthroughs transforming our world—from genomics to space exploration and from art to artificial intelligence? How do the most exciting discoveries expand our imagination and challenge the boundaries between humanity and technology?
  • Design of the Times
    Design is shaped by the past, drives the present, and reimagines the future. In an era of innovation and breakthroughs in technology, how does the power of design inspire, transform and shape the future of our lives?
  • Prosperity Reimagined
    As we navigate the challenges of an evolving world, what does true prosperity look like? What are the new ideas for fostering economic and moral flourishing?
  • The Good Life
    Human beings have always strived for meaning and purpose. How do we steer through life’s uncertainties, difficulties and delights in ways that foster both a life well lived and a good society?
  • The Just Society
    Aristotle wrote that “justice is the bond of people in states” and “the administration of justice … is the principle of order in political society.” What institutions are best positioned to help us sustain a just society today? Can our current institutions support a just society or do they need to be buttressed? Should new ones be created?
  • The Global Contract 
    In the wake of two world wars and the Great Depression, the international community sought to facilitate global cooperation by establishing the United Nations. The Aspen Institute’s founders shared this vision of global understanding and cooperation. Seventy-five years later, what does it look like today and what more can and should be done? 
  • Planet in Transition
    Our planet is undergoing transformation, prompting us to seek solutions that both protect the environment and ensure wide access to the clean energy needed for countries and communities to thrive. How do we chart the path forward to prosper on a changing planet?

Contact: Jon Purves, Media Relations Director, [email protected]

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The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

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