Festival of Stagwell postponed following holdco's defence of work with Israeli government

Festival of Stagwell, an annual event by the US-based holding company, has been postponed “due to safety concerns”. 

The event was set to take place on September 10 at Stagwell’s London HQ. 

In a statement sent to Campaign, James Townsend, chief executive of Stagwell EMEA, said: "The safety of our people and guests is our top priority. Due to safety concerns, we have decided to postpone the event. The environment would not have been conducive to a productive afternoon as originally intended."

The event was planned to include networking opportunities, keynote sessions and workshops. 

The postponement follows Stagwell's defence of its work with the Israeli government earlier this week, after details of a major research and messaging programme conducted by the company emerged. 

The leaked presentation from July 2025 referred to “creating message and campaign paradigms for how to improve the position of Israel about the conflict”.

Responding to a request for comment on Stagwell's work for the Israeli government, a company spokesperson said: “As a network, we work with a broad range of clients and partners, and each agency operates with autonomy to select and manage their own client relationships.

"Our agencies work across the political and issue spectrum, and this project, done by a small team working on a defined brief, does not reflect a shift in that approach.”

Stagwell owns agencies including Assembly, Forsman & Bodenfors, Goodstuff and 72andSunny, as well as Allison, Hunter, SKDK and Sloane & Company.