Innovation Festival 2026
- Chris Lowther
- 12 minutes ago
- 2 min read
It's that time of year again - festival season! Not only in the music world (where I've just been to Cardiff Castle for the excellent first Blackbird Festival with some of my favourite bands!) but also in industry.
Northumbrian Water Ltd held their 10th annual Innovation Festival #IF26 this week (6th - 9th July) at Gosforth Racecourse. People from companies all over the UK (and even from abroad!) come together to work on innovative ideas to solve some of the biggest challenges facing the water industry.
This is the 3rd year running Northumbrian Water have asked me to provide seated acupressure treatments to attendees. In 2024, I was there for 90 minutes over a lunch time on 1 day providing 12-minute treatments per person. The feedback was great from those lucky enough to get a treatment but it just wasn't a long enough session - we had to turn away several people.
So, in 2025, they asked me to do 3 days of 3 hours per day. I still had to turn people away - the demand was so high and the feedback amazing.
This year - 3 days of 5 hours per day! And ... I had a second therapist with me! My friend (and treatment swap buddy) Michelle. Between us, we provided over 100 seated acupressure treatments over the 3 days. And, you guessed it, we still had to turn away disappointed people who couldn't get a timeslot!
Thankfully, I managed to fit in the lovely, award-winning singer/pianist James Lomas who left me an amazing Google review - again!
This year's guest speakers included Fury from Gladiators, Alex James from Blur and Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards. Shame I didn't get to give them a treatment. Maybe next year.
The organizers have had amazing feedback again and have already expressed an interest in doing the same again next year.
Here's some snaps from this year's festival. Click to make them bigger.
Would your workplace be interested in something like this? I bring my seated acupressure chair to your workplace and provide treatments to your staff and colleagues. Check my Wellness in the Workplace page for more details.
