What is the Peace Festival?
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A series of peace events from Monday 23-Sunday 29 March, 2026.  The series is sponsored by the Social Change Lab and other peace groups.

What are our aims?

To bring attention and enthusiasm to the cause of peace!

Keen to host an event? We invite anyone - community members, scholars, students, and advocacy groups - to host an event as part of the festival! Please see our host guide for more info.

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Peace Festival 2026

• Monday 23 March
  • 9-2pm AEST - On campus at the University of Queensland St Lucia campus - VR experience - Nobody's Listening: The Forgotten Voices of the Yazidis.  Book your individual 20 minute interactive VR experience exploring the experiences of the Yazidis at Sinjar.  Rego coming soon. Please note: this exhibit contains distressing references to genocide and sexual violence, including images, text, and voice.
  • 2-3pm AEST From Forgotten Voices to Shared Responsibility.  A presentation and Q&A by Thikran Mato. Room 275, Level 2 Global Change Institute (Building #20), UQ St Lucia. All are welcome!
  • 3-5pm AEST Free screening of award-winning film documentary, "Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA took Hollywood", co-produced by UQ's Associate Professor Sebastian Kaempf. Room 275, Level 2 Global Change Institute (Building #20), UQ St Lucia. All are welcome! Please register here so we know how many to expect.
  • 6pm arrival for 6:30-9pm AEST Screening of the powerful documentary, Until the Sky Falls Quiet, followed by a live Zoom Q&A with Dr Sanjay Adusumilli (featured in the film) and the film’s director, Erica Long. Room 50-T103, Hawken Engineering Building, UQ St Lucia. Event organised in collaboration with the UQ student club, Towards International Medical Equality (TIME). All are welcome! Tickets available here.  
• Wednesday 25 March
  • 10am-2pm AEST Peace Fair on the grassy knoll at UQ (see outdoor space #6 in map of outdoor spaces available here online). Hosted by the Social Change Lab and other groups. No need to register, just come along!
  • 6-7pm AEST Earth Charter at 25 webinar, an online event from Earth Charter Australia in partnership with the UNAAQ.  Register here for the link: https://events.humanitix.com/earth-charter-at-25-seminar.
• ​Thursday 26 March
  • 9am-4pm AEST Fourth Annual Peace Conference - Peace in Queensland in 2026. Viewpoint Room, UQ St Lucia. Registration here: https://bit.ly/2026peacefestrego .  
• Friday 27 March
  • 12-1pm AEST NTEU forum - Ideas under Fire: Academic Freedom and the Criminalisation of Protest on Campus
    Free, hybrid panel discussion. In person in Room 116, Sir Llew Edwards Building (#14), UQ St Lucia, or register here to receive the link to join online.
  • Also on Friday: A series of inter-related workshops - come to any or all, as you wish! All in Room 306, Level 3 McElwain Building (Building #24A), UQ St Lucia with an option to attend online (link TBC). Please register for any/all here. 
    • 10-11:30am AEST: Wellbeing in Difficult Times: Understanding Trauma and Distress, and Managing Difficult Thoughts and Feelings
      This free, interactive workshop is for students, staff, and community members interested in learning about psychological distress and trauma. We will discuss how to support yourself and others during difficult times, and when and where to seek help. We will also learn some basic approaches to managing difficult thoughts and feelings, including mindfulness-based strategies.
      Please note: we won’t be discussing trauma in detail. However, for some people even an introduction to the topic can bring up strong feelings. If you think this might be the case for you, it may be kinder to yourself to skip this session and reach out for one-on-one support instead.
    • 1:30-2:30pm AEST: From Emotions to Action: Peace Activism and Advocacy for Beginners This free, interactive, and hybrid workshop is for students and community members who feel sad, angry, or scared about war and conflict, and who haven’t acted or who feel like beginners in peace activism and advocacy.  You’ll learn some key psychological principles and participate in hands-on activities to get started on your journey.  It’s fun for individuals, and it’s also great to come with friends.  You’ll meet some like-minded students and staff, and (for those in person) enjoy some free food as well.
    • 3-4pm AEST: Bridging Now to Next in Activism and Advocacy
      This free interactive workshop is about refreshing your vision of working for peace.  It’s open to anyone, but will offer the most to people who have been working long enough or given enough to a social movement to feel disillusionment, burnout, or despair.  We’ll be focusing on peace, but the learnings and activities can benefit people in any movement.
    • 4-4:30pm AEST: Peace and the Polycrisis
      Issues of local, regional, and international peace and conflict are inter-connected with other intensifying problems as humanity transgresses our planetary boundaries – problems like food insecurity, democratic backsliding, climate change, and biodiversity loss, together sometimes referred to as the Polycrisis.  Yet we often study or advocate for these problems in isolation.  Hear from scholars working on the polycrisis and grow your thinking about the interdisciplinary scholarship and trans-issue advocacy that is needed to orient to it in this free, hybrid, and interactive seminar.
• Saturday 28 March
  • 10:30am-6pm (registration from 10am) AEST ROTARY PEACE FELLOWS' SEMINAR 2026, "Your Place in Peace". Global Change Institute, UQ St Lucia. Registration here.

 

• Sunday 29 March
  • ​3pm Palm Sunday peace rally. King George Square, Brisbane.  All are welcome!