Who's talkin' the talk at Body & Soul?

Body & Soul is celebrating its 10 year anniversary and what a better way than sinking your teeth into some nourishing discussions and debates?

Founder of the festival, Avril Stanley, is inviting some of the island's most daring and challenging thinkers along to the festival from June 21-23 in Clonmellon, Co. Westmeath.

"At Body & Soul, we attract a tribe of like-minded people who are engaged with the world around them. Through our talks programme, Body & Soul becomes a vital forum both for debate and the meeting of minds." she says. "Covering topics from politics, sustainability, national identity, media, literature, culture and ethics, Body & Soul doesn’t shy away from tackling the issues that are shaping our world."

On the Saturday, The Irish Times takes to the Woodlands stage, hosting a number of different great speakers and talkers tackling a variety of different subjects. Foodies rejoice as Jess Murphy and Sorcha Hamilton take to the stage alongside cookery author Rozanna Purcell and hosted by Catherine Cleary; the panellists will look into veganism and environmental sustainability through what we eat in 'Climate Shock: Do We All Have To Go Vegan Now?'.

Tune into a live recording of The Women's Podcast with Tara Flynn, journalist and Sydney Rose Brianna Parkins, and spoken word artist Felispeaks titled ‘How to Stay Sane in a World Gone Mad’. Following this year's festival theme of ritual, the panel will discuss the various techniques and rituals they use to cope with challenges in life.

Hugh Linehan hosts the 'Inside Politics Podcast, A Nation Once Again?' panel, Mary Lou McDonald, Simon Carswell & Sophie Long are invited along to discuss the possibility of a United Ireland and *sigh* the development of Brexit. Linehan will also talk to activist Ailbhe Smyth about her recent achievement of appearing on Time Magazine’s '100 Most Influential' for her lifetime activism and her work with Together For Yes, the campaign that fought to repeal the 8th Amendment.

On Sunday, it's the Library of Progress's time on the Woodlands stage, hosting a series of panels that celebrate our inquisitive nature as well as the scientific method and critical thinking. Listen to Taranoia podcast with Tara Flynn and guest Emma Dabiri and Caroline O'Donogue's Sentimental Garbage in conversation with guest Sarah Maria Griffin. The Waterford Whispers News people will reveal themselves on stage as they talk to comedian Kevin McGahern. Historian Donal Fallon and journalist Angela Nagel take us back, discussing the books that were censored by the Irish state.

Emmet Kirwan, the actor and writer of Dublin Oldscool, hosts a fascinating panel 'Beats Versus Rhymes' which will showcase some of Ireland's up-and-coming hip-hop and rap poets like Natalya O’Flaherty, The Poet Geoff & Emmet O’Brien, Stephen James Smith, Roxanna Nic Liam, Lewis Kenny, Dagogo Hart and Trudie Gorman.

It's not just the Woodlands stage getting intellectual, The Sanctuary Area with Michael Harding will divulge into all thing spiritual and the search for meaning and mindfulness. Later, Dr. Ivor Browne suggests that the heart, rather than the brain, is the centre of our being, with DJ Donal Dineen. A special mention to Dil Wickremasinghe, Chloë Goodchild and Benig Mauger.

Although it's not just panels that will lead you to introspection, the festival encourages inspiring talks to occur amongst your friends, old and new.

Tickets for the event can be bought here.