Themed Curiouser and Curiouser, TEDxChristchurch 2013 to be held on Saturday 19 October, has been launched with the introduction of the first wave of speakers.

Speakers include comedian Dai Henwood, superhero Flat Man, filmmaker Slavko Martinov, futurist Stuart Candy, entrepreneur Selwyn Pellet, poet Ali Jacs, Nvader founder Daniel Walker, musician Jen Turner, and Ben Uffindell, editor of The Civilian. National Radio’s Kathryn Ryan will be the MC.

Securing tickets to the event involves an application process ­– a short, 3-question form to help organisers understand guests – and are open to the public here.

General admission tickets are priced at $125, and at $25 for guests 25 years and under.

The event will be streamed live on press.co.nz

About TED and TEDx:

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to ‘ideas worth spreading’. Started as a conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support world-changing ideas with many initiatives.

At a TED conference, the world’s leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes or less. TED speakers have included Roger Ebert, Sheryl Sandberg, Bill Gates, Elizabeth Gilbert, Benoit Mandelbrot, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Brian Greene, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Three major TED events are held each year: The TED Conference takes place every spring in Vancouver, Canada, simultaneous with TEDActive, in Whistler, BC; and the TEDGlobal Conference takes place each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The TEDx initiative grants free licenses to people around the world to organize TED-style events in their communities with TED Talks and live speakers. More than 5,000 TEDx events have been held so far.