What happens next in the festival
Announcement | This activity is for everyone
We’re in the final weeks of the Festival. Here’s what to expect:
Week 6 and 7: February 23rd – March 6th
This is a chance for you to answer even more big questions and start your Standpoints. During this time you will have a chance to:
- Continue Hub discussions with other students
- Take part in quizzes and polls
- Enter the weekly competition
- Give feedback in surveys
- Reflect on your skills and learning
This is your last opportunity to add comments to the Hub.
Week 8: March 9th – 13th
This is celebration week! We’ll count your stars and celebrate the winners.
During this week you will have a chance to:
- Find out who the winners are
- See the Festival stats
- Complete quizzes and feedback surveys
- Submit your Standpoint (please note: it won’t be entered into the competition after March 6th but will still be published on the Hub)
You will not be able to add comments to the Hub during this week.
Comments (15)
I'm truly exited for the final weeks of the Festival! It feels like a countdown where every comment, quiz and discussion counts. I'm planning to join as many Hub discussions as I can, try the quizzes and really reflect on what I've learned so far. I'm exited too to see the winners and the best Standpoints, I really hope to be from them!
It's really amazing to see how much effort and curiosity can add up-not just in stars, but in skills and understanding.
I joined the Festival last year, and I enjoyed it as well as this year.
So pleased you have enjoyed it! :)
I agree because... These final weeks feel serious in a good way. It’s like the last stretch of a race , this is the time to push ourselves and make sure our voices are heard. We still have the chance to join discussions, answer big questions, take quizzes, and submit our Standpoints, but after March 6, that opportunity closes. So if we want our ideas to truly count, now is the moment.
Celebration week sounds exciting too ,seeing the winners and the overall Festival stats will be interesting. But right now, it feels like the focus should be on participating fully and finishing strong. It’s not just about winning; it’s about making the most of the experience before it ends.
I am soo exited for the final weeks of Topical Talk because the winners will be announced and I hope our school is going to win. At the beginning of Topical Talk, I saw a write up that said that the school that wins might not be the school that has the most stars. When I saw the write up, it inspired me to work hard to try and win Topical Talk. It has been amazing and fun having to be a part of this competition, I am really going to miss Topical Talk when it is over. This is my chance to say I am surely going to miss you all here at the Topical Talk Festival and Topical Talkers. I can't wait until it is time to publish our Standpoints to see the winning school. I really enjoyed participating in Topical Talk, I play quizzes helping me build my knowledge, I reflect on the topics given to help me boost my thinking abilities. I love that I learnt a lot of new things in Topical Talk.
Thank you Topical Talk and Topical Talkers 👍
I am truly excited for the celebration week and this standpoint week. I am happy for this standpoint week firstly because I got enough time to reflect on all my comment, mistakes powerful/excellent points, my amazing and happy stars and lastly, I was able to talk and discuss with some amazing and smart topical talkers. I really loved the way we were able to connect minds with each other and share ideas and opinions with each other while we are in different countries that could be thousands of miles away or apart. I am Philosophical_fox and I might not be on the leader board or have up to 20 stars, but I have many new skills like now, I love debating a lot and watch the news more often, I have also improved in my writing skills and have many more amazing ideas to share. I can't wait for this celebration week to come so that I can celebrate the winners and also appreciate the hosts and I am really going to miss this hub and i'm so sad it's ending and this memory will never leave me. Lastly, the one amazing skill I have is resilience, I know that there are many people that started all strong and confidence but when they keep commenting and still don't get stars, they just give up and at a point in time I must confess I almost gave up but I did not and that made my brain faster and sharper and I don't give up as easy as before and I guess that I could say that it is all thanks to to this amazing hub. I really appreciate this opportunity.
I agree with you philosophical_fox because these past weeks have been inspiring for me and i hope for all topical talkers around the world. Topical talk has improved my ability to speak and listen to my mates, my teachers and friends. During the lessons we would always go over the skills we will be using for each lesson and I have to say I am getting better, even at making and dropping my comments on the hub. I might not have gotten many stars like those on the leader board but competition 6 talked about the growth mindset, and it has taught me not to give up but to keep trying. The skills i have learned here will go a long way to make me better so I will keep practicing and applying them to my daily routines. Thank you Economist Foundation for giving my school the opportunity to include us in this program and thank you every single Topical Talker that has contributed to making this hub lively and educative.
I believe the festival will take an exciting and meaningful turn next. After the main performances, the crowd will likely become more involved through interactive activities, competitions, or cultural showcases. This stage of the festival may highlight community spirit and creativity, allowing different groups to express their identity and traditions.
In addition, there could be a final ceremony that brings everyone together, perhaps with awards or a symbolic closing performance. Overall, what happens next will probably strengthen the sense of unity and leave the audience with a memorable experience.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time commenting and learning about various global topics! I am most excited about the celebration week because it will recognize everyone's efforts and continued determination. I've learned more about myself and my opinions by organizing my thoughts into comments for this Festival. I've actually made it a habit to consider all outcomes for a debate, which, added to my order, has definitely proved to benefit my English assignments. I would like to thank the hosts of the Festival, everyone who participated, and my teacher for the opportunity to develop my skills. It was some of the most fun I've had, and I will cherish my stars as an accomplishment! Hopefully, I can join again next year to focus on learning new things as a lifelong learner!
I am really excited of this final weeks, to create a standpoint is a great part because can help me to reflect a lot and to improve my level of writing.I have like a lot the topical talk festival weeks because I have learnt, reflect about my opinion,which in some ocations I have change it, and also think about for example how dificult is to manage an aliance with other countries. I will be wating for the topical talk festival the hole year, it was my first time on it and I have enjoy this way of improving my level without needing to study a lot and only by thinking and writing comments.
I can't believe how fast Topical talk went by this year, and this isn't even my first time in fact it is the third time joining the festival, and every year it keeps getting better. Topical talk has been an incredible opportunity to speak freely about global issues and explore different perspectives from around the world. It gave us a closer look at what's happening beyond our borders an helped us understand the world in a deeper way.
One of the things I have loved most is reading other students' comments. Every time I scroll through the hub I learn something new, whether it is a fact I didn't know, a viewpoint I hadn't considered, or a creative way of expressing and idea. These discussions have helped me grow not just as a writer, but as a thinker.
As we enter the final weeks, I feel both exited and a little sad. Exited to see the winning standpoints and celebrate everyone's hard work, but also sad that this amazing journey is coming to an end. I will definitely miss the energy, the debates, and the global community we have built here.
Thank you, Topical Talk, for all the amazing efforts you have put into this festival from the thought-provoking questions to the fun quizzes and the generous gifts you will be giving us after it ends. You have made this experience unforgettable.
LET'S MAKE THESE LAST DAYS COUNT!
I am so excited to submit standpoints and continue discussions with other people around the world! I find answering these questions on the student hub so interesting and engaging. I love seeing the different perspectives people have and the different ways you can view one point. I can't believe we have come so far in the competition that it is almost over, it makes me sad because I still want to continue! I am happy that this week we can start on our standpoints because it gives us time to choose a favourable topic that we find interesting and it helps us to reflect on our participation in the competition and all of our comments we have made as well as how we can improve.
It gives us time to think more deeply about these problems and issues in the world and how they can be addressed, we can now express all our points and opinions in our standpoints. I can't wait till celebration week to see all the winners,to see which students got the most stars and to celebrate and congratulate them on all their achievements!
Thank you so much Topical talkers, this has been such an opportunity for me to learn about things that I would have never learnt in the classroom, without you I would have never thought so deeply about world issues and how they can be addressed. It has been amazing to engage with people all around the world from different countries and backgrounds. You've taught me so much and I am truly grateful for this. I think that my critical and independent thinking has improved greatly because of you. I've also learnt to have persistence and resilience.
Thank you so much ❤
Taking part in Topical Talk has changed the way I see learning and discussion. At first, I focused only on expressing my opinion, but over time I learned something more important: growth comes from listening, adapting, and thinking deeper.
Sometimes, I didn’t earn stars, but instead of seeing that as failure, I saw it as feedback. I started analyzing what made some comments stronger than others, and I improved step by step. This experience taught me that progress is not about instant success, but about continuous improvement.
Topical Talk didn’t just teach me about global issues — it taught me how to think, reflect, and grow. And I believe that mindset will stay with me long after the Festival ends.
I was extremely nervous when I started doing Topical Talk, but now that it's coming to an end, I wish I could stay longer in this space. I've so enjoyed getting to come up with opinions on important and relevant matters and see others' amazing arguments. Learning about issues such as Sport Technology, Voting Age, International Aid and NATO has empowered me with knowledge - letting me feel informed, and in some ways, more secure in the world now that I know what is actually going on. I wish the past me had taken greater advantage of this opportunity - made more comments, read more views, done more research, learned more information - because I truly had so much fun getting to discuss in class and with other Topical Talkers.
I'm very excited to be submitting my standpoint, because it feels like a very full-circle culmination of the work that has gone into this project, and I find the topics for each section very interesting.
And then it's celebration week!
They say time flies when you're having fun, and I fully believe this statement. I wish my time here could have been longer, but I can't wait to celebrate the amazing achievements of my fellow Topical Talkers!
Well done, everyone!!!
I am exhausted, and I feel it is harder to gain stars as a senior topical talker, when compared to the juniors.
I'm sorry to hear you're tired. Hopefully from all the work you have been doing! You're right - we have higher standards for older students!
We're over-protecting kids in real life but under-protecting them online, and it's making them both bored and anxious at the same time. We've gotten so obsessed with 'safety' that we don't even let kids be kids anymore. We track their GPS, we don't let them walk to the park alone, and we've basically turned childhood into a supervised scheduled event. But then-and here's the weird part-we give them a smartphone and basically say, ' Have fun in the digital wilderness! We're worried about them falling off a swing set, but we aren't worried enough about them falling into an algorithm that tells them they aren't 'aesthetic' enough or smart enough. If we want kids to actually grow up healthy, we need to flip the script: give them more freedom in the real world to take risks, and way more guidance in the digital world where the real 'strange danger' actually is.
Hello, I'm empowered_theory and we're reaching the final weeks of Topical Talk. I would like to say thank you to Topical Talk and every other students from all over the world. By joining Topical Talk, I saw the world from other peoples prespectives and opinions, which I won't always get from other competitions. It made me apprised of the problems that occur throughout the world. And as someone who does not watch the news or do researches often, this competition gave me enthusiasm to try. By researching, I realized there are so many informations I wasn't aware of, which helped me learn something new. Topical Talk sharpened critical thinking and improved my English and communication skills. It reminded us that even though we're still young, our opinions value. Every comment I read in the student hub gave me insights. Just like the festival topic of voting ages, it proved that young people has perceptive views of the world. I might not be mastered yet here as this is my first time, but every comment I made has improved my knowledge and I'm grateful for that. I hope I will be able to join this competition again, not as the same me, but as a better person who's more adept. Thank you so much and wishing to see you all again next time!
Hello everyone! I’m truly delighted that it’s finals week and I’m really grateful to have been a part of this. I’m also absolutely excited to see who we may celebrate as the winners and what will come next after this joyful experience. It has been a fantastic time for me, especially because I have gained knowledge & discovered a lot of new information and opinions that I might’ve overlooked in the past. These past few weeks, have meant a lot to me. I was given the chance to express myself & my opinions freely while being able to improve and practice my English vocabulary skills, grammar and writing. I have also enjoyed reading & learning about other points of view from various different people around the world that has often changed my perspective in a lot of ways! I plan to continue these habits and try to embrace them in other ways such as daily research & debates because I have found this very useful and it has made me a lot more open-minded about international problems that are occurring. I also hope to share this knowledge with others to let everyone know that there are more problems in the world other than our personal problems. I also appreciate the hosts for putting all your time & effort into this foundation that let us improve many skills and even discover skills we might’ve missed before. I must say I started to lose motivation early because I felt devastated that my hard work wasn’t getting any stars but regardless of that, I pushed through and managed to (hopefully) improve my writing & critical thinking skills. It’s important not to give up early! Thank you.