The UK’s Cyber Community Comes North as CyberFest returns for 2026
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The North East’s biggest cyber security festival returns this October. Now in its ninth year, CyberFest has grown into a major national platform for showcasing the region’s cyber and secure AI excellence.
Taking place across the North East throughout October, the festival will connect businesses, innovators, government and specialist clusters from across the UK, putting the region’s talent, ambition and capability firmly in the spotlight.
CyberFest is organised by CyberNorth, a membership community which brings together people, organisations and ideas from across the North East to drive progress in cyber
security, AI, data and quantum technologies.
Although regionally grown, CyberFest is no longer just a regional event says Jon Holden, CEO of CyberNorth, “CyberFest is about bringing the UK’s cyber community to the North East and showing the country what this region can do. What started as a regional festival has grown into a national platform, bringing together businesses, government, innovators and industry leaders to connect, collaborate and create new opportunities.”
The mission is simple: connect, educate and empower the region’s digital ecosystem, while putting the
North East firmly on the map as a place to innovate, invest, collaborate and build business.
More than 1,000 people attended CyberFest events last year and this year organisers CyberNorth emphasise the festival will build on that momentum, exploring the opportunities and challenges facing the UK.
The programme will feature high-impact events throughout October, including the CyberFest
Community Conference on 19 October and the CyberNorth Awards on 21 October, alongside a series of specialist afternoon sessions exploring the critical role of cyber across adjacent industries.
At the heart of this year’s festival is the CyberFest Community Conference, a major gathering of the North East’s cyber community alongside national and international businesses, government, industry leaders and specialist clusters. The conference will deliver a packed programme of insight, debate and networking, starting with high-profile speakers from the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Centre, CFC Insurance and Information Security for London, covering everything from data and cyber resilience to the dark web and the rapidly evolving threat landscape.
Attendees will also hear from an expert cyber and AI panel, featuring industry leaders fromThe North East’s biggest cyber security festival returns this October. Now in its ninth year, CyberFest has grown into a major national platform for showcasing the region’s cyber and secure AI excellence. Taking place across the North East throughout October, the festival will connect businesses, innovators, government and specialist clusters from across the UK, putting the region’s talent, ambition and capability firmly in the spotlight.
CyberFest is organised by CyberNorth, a membership community which brings together people, organisations and ideas from across the North East to drive progress in cyber
security, AI, data and quantum technologies.
Although regionally grown, CyberFest is no longer just a regional event says Jon Holden, CEO of CyberNorth, “CyberFest is about bringing the UK’s cyber community to the North East and showing the country what this region can do. What started as a regional festival has grown into a national platform, bringing together businesses, government, innovators and industry leaders to connect, collaborate and create new opportunities.”
The mission is simple: connect, educate and empower the region’s digital ecosystem, while putting the North East firmly on the map as a place to innovate, invest, collaborate and build business.
More than 1,000 people attended CyberFest events last year and this year organisers CyberNorth emphasise the festival will build on that momentum, exploring the opportunities and challenges facing the UK.
The programme will feature high-impact events throughout October, including the CyberFest Community Conference on 19 October and the CyberNorth Awards on 21 October, alongside a series of specialist afternoon sessions exploring the critical role of cyber across adjacent industries.
At the heart of this year’s festival is the CyberFest Community Conference, a major gathering of the North East’s cyber community alongside national and international businesses, government, industry leaders and specialist clusters. The conference will deliver a packed programme of insight, debate and networking, starting with high-profile speakers from the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Centre, CFC Insurance and Information Security for London, covering everything from data and cyber resilience to the dark web and the rapidly evolving threat landscape.
Attendees will also hear from an expert cyber and AI panel, featuring industry leaders from destination for cyber, secure AI and technology innovation.
We have incredible businesses, brilliant people, world-class expertise and huge opportunities
in front of us. CyberFest gives us a chance to bring all of that together and show the rest of
the UK what is happening here.”
With a month of events, national and international organisations coming to the region, and
conversations spanning some of the UK’s most strategically vital industries, CyberFest 2026
is set to put the North East at the heart of the UK’s cyber and secure AI conversation.
CyberNorth Awards 2026 nominations close: 5pm, 14 September 2026.
To purchase tickets to the CyberFest Community Conference and the CyberNorth Awards 2026:
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