Summer in the City 2017 Guests Announced

Over the last two weeks, Summer in the City has announced 90 guests who will be appearing at its 2017 event, which will take place on 4-6 August.

Tickets for all three days of Summer in the City, as well as an official t-shirt for the event, are available on the SitC website.

Announced on 13 February:

Dodie Clark
The Midnight Beast
John Chapman and Leon Bustin (TheLeanMachines)
Saffron Barker
Scola Dondo
Tom ‘TomSka’ Ridgewell
Jamie Jo
Alex Bertie

Photography: Rebecca Need-Menear (top left), Dave Bird (bottom right)

Dodie Clark

Dodie Clark skyrocketed to fame in 2016 after the release of her debut EP Intertwined in November. It placed thirty-fifth on the official UK album charts a week later and dodie announced a UK tour set to take place in March 2017. She also launched her Vevo channel with a music video directed by Sammy Paul.

The song, Sick of Losing Soulmates, gained her the YouTube Song of the Year award at Summer in the City’s first ever creator awards in 2016. Tom ‘TomSka’ Ridgewell also won an award that year for Community Spirit.

“I’m doing a lot of different work around YouTube and presenting, but when it comes down to it, music is the thing that makes me happy,” dodie told TenEighty.

Saffron Barker

Prior to creating her YouTube channel, Saffron Barker was in a girl band called Born2Blush with three of her friends. In a revival of her musical background, she flew to Amsterdam in November to be a part of YouTuber Christmas charity single, Christmas Without You.

She and Jake Mitchell held joint meet-and-greets at Summer in the City 2016.

TheLeanMachines

YouTube’s fitness duo, John Chapman and Leon Bustin (a.k.a. TheLeanMachines) released their first book in 2016, Eat Well, Move Better and Feel Awesome, which recently sold out after the pair appeared on an episode of Sunday Brunch.

In January they filmed two collaboration videos with Tom Daley, in which they took viewers through a simple daily workout and taught them how to make DIY protein balls.

Jamie Jo

Known for her Disney-inspired videos and artistic creations, Jamie Jo recently passed the 300,000 subscriber mark on her channel BananaJamana.

On the Baking/Cooking panel at Summer in the City 2015, she remarked that it’s more relatable for an audience if you get things wrong sometimes, in reference to a Japanese cheesecake she’d attempted.

She also took part in the Popularity vs Integrity panel in 2016 and shocked the audience when she shared that once she had to shut down a collaboration because the other party wanted sexual favours in return.

Photography: Jon D Barker (top left), Dave Bird (top right; bottom left), Olly Newport (bottom right)

The Midnight Beast

The Midnight Beast appeared with dodie on Summer in the City’s Musicians on YouTube panel in 2016, as well as performing on the main stage to a packed crowd. That year the trio also hosted a pre-release screening and Q+A for their Vimeo original film All Killer, a twisted musical parody of Glee.

Since then they’ve gone from strength to strength, recently creating a Grease-inspired Valentine’s Day short for Sky Arts.

Scola Dondo

In November, YouTube launched the #MadeForYou campaign, which brought mainstream attention to a diverse range of creators. Both Scola Dondo and Tom Ridgewell were featured and took part in a 360-degree photoshoot in London’s National Gallery.

Scola also spoke on several panels during Summer in the City 2016, including the well-received Ethnicity and Diversity Online panel chaired by Taha Khan, and Women on YouTube.

On the Ethnicity and Diversity Online panel, Scola emphasised how creators should embrace their culture and that audiences want to see something new and different.

Tom ‘TomSka’ Ridgewell

Tom has released plenty of new shorts over the last year, and in 2017 he will be attending the Sundance Institute’s Creator Intensive programme along with fellow filmmaker Adrian Bliss.

Appearing on the Calling People Out panel in 2016, Tom admitted to getting into a Twitter fight on his birthday, with Olajide ‘KSI’ Olatunji.

Discussing the subject of calling people out in our cover interview, he said: “My biggest problem was that I was being hypocritical. In 2014, I was one way and now I’m calling out other people for being that same way. When I see something I hate, instead of making it worse, now I just want to fix it.”

Alex Bertie

Alex Bertie made his name on YouTube through speaking up about transgender issues and documenting his own transition. In our 2015 interview with Alex, he said: “I just wanted to put my life out there, I guess, and do my best to help people with what I was going through.”

Alex spoke on Summer in the City’s LGBTQ+ panel in 2014 and 2015. He was also at the event in 2016, appearing on the Online Safety and Oversharing panels.

He revealed that when it comes to oversharing he has no limit, but he also added that if you’re worried about being taken out of context you should always ask yourself, “What would Tumblr think?”

Announced on 14 February:

Photography: Dave Bird (bottom left)

Jana Damanhouri

The Thomson Reuters Foundation’s I Choose to See campaign in 2016 saw creators speaking out about a number of topics such as modern slavery and breaking social taboos. To support the campaign, Jana uploaded a video discussing the refugee crisis.

Jana is known for her bilingual content, uploading videos in both English and Arabic on two separate channels.

She spoke on both the Creator/Viewer Divide and Ethnicity and Diversity Online panels at Summer in the City 2016.

Sanne Vliegenthart

Back in 2011, Sanne took part in the YouTube NextUp programme with Lex Croucher.

She featured on Summer in the City’s BookTubers Panel in 2016, saying that when she started out, she “had no intention of specifically talking about books, but then I started doing that! BookTube wasn’t really a term that was used back then […] but then when it became popular I found that was the easiest way to describe what my channel was”.

In one of her most recent videos, she talks about her January book haul, which includes titles like Margot & Me by Juno Dawson, and The Other Half of Happiness by Ayisha Malik.

Luke Cutforth

One of Luke’s biggest projects recently has been writing and directing the feature-length film The Drowning of Arthur Braxton, which is currently in post-production.

As a co-organiser of Summer in the City, Luke has appeared on numerous panel discussions at the event over the years. In 2016, he revealed on the Fandom panel that he was, in fact, part of a YouTube fandom himself: “This is super awkward and I apologise,” said Luke. “But, I would say that I spent rather a lot of time, years ago, in the TomSka fandom. I never told [Tom] that.”

“It all makes sense now; the phone calls, the crying, the rustling in the bushes…” said Tom in response, cuddling into Luke.

Meg DeAngelis

In 2016, the Canadian YouTuber (living in California) made a cameo as Moxie Dewdrop in the movie Trolls, alongside Carrie Hope Fletcher as Cookie and Connie Glynn, who also had one of Moxie’s lines. Her latest videos include Girls In Their Room, which recently hit 1.5 million views, and a tutorial on creating your own DIY hologram.

Photography: Rebecca Need-Menear (top left)

Lex Croucher

At Summer In The City 2016, Lex appeared on the Balancing YouTube with Everyday Life panel. On the topic of mental health and dealing with critique, she stated: “I think sometimes the abuse gets to you. There can be points where you’re like, ‘I can’t see another comment saying that I should die in a hole today, like I just don’t need that in my life today’.”

Lex also supported Project for Awesome in 2016 by raising money for Cats Protection.

In our cover interview with Lex, she said: “People often see YouTubers as these idealised versions of themselves, and it’s quite nice to just be honest about the fact that I am anxious, or I do make ridiculous decisions, or I do, like… cry at dogs in the street.”

Mark Upson

The 19-year-old creator makes a variety of content and has recently been uploading weekly vlogs detailing his life. He also frequently puts out challenge videos, collaborating with other YouTubers such as Karimchii.

Jordan Lipscombe

Beauty vlogger Jordan has advice and tips on a whole range of styles. With her first video uploaded just a year ago, she has already nearly reached 500,000 subscribers on her channel. Her most popular video, How I Style My Short Hair | Long Bob, has over six million views.

In a Q+A video on her channel, she shares that she was inspired to create her channel by watching other beauty vloggers on YouTube, saying: “I’m a huge believer in doing what makes you happy, otherwise, what’s the point?”

Bird Keeper Toby

In 2016, Toby was a part of the spring NextUp programme, alongside creators such as Steven Bridges and Matt Ley.

Toby’s channel focuses on videos about the Pokémon universe, the card games, video games, and general lore of the series. His series Pokémon Theories explores theories about what’s really going on behind the scenes in the games.

Announced on 15 February:

HelloItsAmie

HelloItsAmie makes a variety of videos on her channel, from beauty to challenges, and has over 400,000 subscribers. Many of her videos include her boyfriend Aaron Foster, who has an Instagram following of over 70,000.

Perhaps Summer in the City will reprise its Relationships Online panel in 2017, and feature this couple?

Philip Winnall (PDWinnall)

Philip Winnall is a UK Pokétuber, and his videos include walkthroughs of the latest Pokémon titles, Sun and Moon, and vlogs about the game.

Philip appeared on the Pokémon YouTubers panel at Summer in the City 2016 and was then invited by The Pokémon Company to their launch party for the Sun & Moon trading card game. He attended this event with fellow Pokétubers Bird Keeper Toby, Liam Scott Edwards, and CandyEvie. The four run a podcast together called the Elite Four.

Eve Bennett

Eve Bennett is a 17-year-old beauty, fashion, and lifestyle vlogger. Her channel is full of hauls, makeup hacks, and revision advice.

She collaborated with Evan Edinger in 2015, and the pair reacted to her old fan account tweets and talked about the differences between school in the nineties and now.

Gabbie Hanna

Gabbie Hanna reached three million subscribers on her channel in December. Her comedy videos gained her nominations in both the Web Star: Female and Viner categories of the 2016 Teen Choice Awards.

Gabbie appeared on the Comedy panel at Summer in the City 2016 alongside Jack Dean and others and said that Bo Burnham was her “biggest driving force” when it comes to comedy.

She added that although she would like to branch out to traditional media, “there shouldn’t be shame in just wanting to be on YouTube”.

Photography: Dave Bird (bottom right)

Andy Castell

Andy Castell is most known for his FIFA gaming videos on his channel AJ3, but he also vlogs on his self-titled side channel.

To celebrate reaching one million subscribers, Andy hosted a five-hour charity live stream on his channel for #YouTubeForGood, raising money for Tackle Africa. The live stream raised just over £5,000 on JustGiving.

Leyla Rose

Leyla Rose is a 21-year-old UK beauty vlogger from London. Her videos include tutorials and product reviews from a range of makeup and beauty brands.

Leyla has a range of videos focusing on more accessible makeup brands, such as her realistic back-to-school makeup tutorial.

Candice O’Reilly

Candice O’Reilly is no stranger to Summer in the City. She was part of the Relationships Online panel in 2015 and compered the poetry open mic event in 2016 with Dottie James.

In 2016. Candice released her first poetry collection called Sea Legs and Other Stories which can be purchased here. Talking to TenEighty, she shared that she has no recollection of her reasons for writing some of her ‘diary entry’-style poems: “I guess that’s when writing is at its most therapeutic, when you can write about something then move on and forget about it.”

Jimmy Hill

Jimmy Hill has spoken on many Summer in the City panels in the past. In 2016, he chaired the Comedy panel, and appeared on the #YouTubeHonestyHour and LGBTQ+ panels.

On the latter panel, he shared his view that coming out videos can help visibility and can be cathartic for the creator. Jimmy appeared on the Coming Out On YouTube panel in 2015, just a month after he came out on his channel. He also co-hosted the first ever live episode of Cereal Time with Charlie McDonnell.

Announced on 16 February:

Photography: Dave Bird (top right, bottom left)

George Benson

Daily travel vlogger George has posted videos chronicling his adventures exploring countries such as Finland, Brazil, the USA, and most recently Bali.

In September, he supported WaterAid by running the Tough Sh!t obstacle course to raise awareness of the 2.3 billion people who lack proper sanitation and clean toilets. George was WaterAid’s first YouTube ambassador.

Bertie Gilbert

Back in January, Bertie released his latest short film Playground, in collaboration with Sammy Paul, as part of New Form Digital’s Incubator series. He discussed the film and premiered the trailer at Buffer Festival in Toronto.

At Summer in the City 2016, Bertie’s short film Let It Be, staring Dodie Clark and Savannah Brown, won the Short Film of the Year Award. He also appeared on the Short Films and Popularity vs Integrity panels.

Gary C

While his videos no longer feature his purple puppet (you remember Cheeky!), who was tragically hit by a bus in Benjamin Cook‘s Becoming YouTube series, Gary C posts impressions, covers, and art, as well as videos on sexuality.

Gary also featured on Ben’s web documentary Tofu (an accompaniment to Russell T Davies’s drama Cucumber) where he talked about coming out and being LGBTQ+ in modern Britain. He spoke on the Mental Health panel at Summer in the City 2016.

Eman Kellam

In August of 2016, Eman was one of the creators chosen to take part in YouTube NextUp programme, designed to provide smaller content creators with equipment, funding and experience.

Eman spoke on the Ethnicity and Diversity Online panel in 2016 and has since made videos about the role of race on YouTube talking about how the most successful creators are predominantly white. He also featured on the Balancing YouTube with Everyday Life panel last year.

Photography: Dave Bird (top left, bottom right)

Savannah Brown

Known for her thought-provoking poetry videos, Savannah’s debut poetry book Graffiti reached the Goodreads Choice Awards final in 2016. She has since been nominated for a Shorty Award for Breakout YouTuber of 2016.

Savannah premiered Loving Like an Existentialist, a poem with animation by Maddy Vian, at Buffer Festival 2016.

Alongside Bertie, she spoke at Summer in the City 2016’s Popularity vs Integrity panel where she raised how it becomes harder to make content “if you get to a point where you have an audience built around you and what you’re expected to make”.

Jake Edwards

Jake is known for his videos tackling not just transgender issues and his own transition, but also his original songs and covers, some of which he performed at Summer in the City 2015. He has worked with Childline for their Voice Box YouTube series where he discussed gender diversity.

Jake also spoke on the LGBTQ+ panel at Summer in the City 2016 about gender identity, stereotyping, and visibility.

Roxxsaurus

Lifestyle and beauty vlogger Roxi is no stranger to Summer in the City and returns for another year in 2017. Her channel features a range of tips and advice from traditional makeup tutorials and lookbooks to DIYs.

Her most popular video, 20 Beauty Hacks Everyone Should Know, has received nine million views over the past year.

Toby Randall

In support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and other charities, Toby took part in YouTuber charity single Christmas Without You along with Saffron and other YouTubers from across the world.

At 2016’s Summer in the City, he took part in the Musicians on YouTube panel alongside Dodie Clark and the Midnight Beast. On the topic of breaking into more mainstream media Toby, who said he had recently been signed to a label, said, “YouTube has given me so much, why would I leave?”

Announced on 17 February:

Nathan Zed
Daniel J. Layton
Hazel Hayes
Will Lenney (WillNe)
Steven Bridges
Helen Anderson
Anastasia Kingsnorth (Floral Princess)
Hannah Leigh

Photography: Dave Bird (top left; bottom right)

Helen Anderson

Helen is no stranger to Summer in the City, having appeared on the Online Safety panel in 2016 and the Anti-Bullying panel in 2015, as well as performing with her band Box of Light in 2014.

Her channel regularly features beauty videos and hauls, and she also took part in Linda Blacker’s YouTuber Fairytale series.

Anastasia Kingsnorth

Also known as Floral Princess, beauty vlogger Anastasia has gained over 200,000 subscribers since uploading her first video in 2014.

Her recent video detailing the gifts she received for Christmas 2016 has quickly become the second most popular video on her channel, hitting 400,000 views in less than two months.

Daniel J. Layton

A Summer in the City mainstay for many years now, Daniel spent last year speaking on the #YouTubeHonestyHour panel for the second year running, as well as appearing on the Baking panel. He has also performed for the last two years running, with a musical set in 2015 and a comedy show last year, which he has told us he may repeat this summer.

Dan recently restarted his popular series Baking With Layton, and presented a list of the movies he thought were snubbed in this year’s Oscar nominations.

Nathan Zed

The US-based comedian and vlogger traveled to the UK for the first time last year to attend 2016’s Summer in the City, where he won the Vlogger of the Year award, as well as appearing on the Creator/Viewer Divide and Ethnicity and Diversity Online panels. We also managed to snag an interview with him where we asked about his thoughts on the UK YouTube community and addressing social issues online.

His most recent videos have been on the topic of self-improvement, making recommendations for what viewers should “leave in 2016”, as well as discussing the difficulty in becoming skilled in any field.

Photography: Dave Bird (top right; bottom left), Rebecca Need-Menear (bottom right)

Will Lenney

Also known as WillNE, this 20-year-old vlogger is mostly known for his pop culture commentary and reaction videos. His channel has gained over half a million subscribers since it started in 2011.

His most popular video, reacting to a grime track performed by a 12-year-old boy, has clocked up over two million views.

Hannah Leigh

Hannah is a beauty vlogger from Sheffield who became a part of the YouTube NextUp programme in 2016. Her videos range from makeup tutorials to style tips and lookbooks.

Since starting her channel she has gained 100,000 subscribers, with her most popular video being a Halloween Doll makeup tutorial.

Hazel Hayes

The TenEighty cover star recently won a BONCAs Award for her comedy sketch Sexy Torture Chamber, as well as premiering animated short Happy and hosting a talk at the latest Buffer Festival.

Hazel is another frequent Summer in the City guest, who has been attending the event since 2011. Last year, she spoke on the Short Films and Women on YouTube panels.

Steven Bridges

Steven is a magician who makes regular videos showing off his latest illusions. He frequently collaborates with other YouTubers, recently performed at The RH Experience’s YouTube special, and can regularly be found performing street magic in Leicester Square.

He was a common sight at 2016’s event, chairing the Collaboration panel and appearing on the Creator/Viewer Divide panel, and won YouTube NextUp in the same year.

Announced on 20 February:

Joel Berghult (RoomieOfficial)
Jodie Porteous (Just Jodes)
Gabriel Sey
Sammy Paul
Sophie Foster
Jamie Cottrell (ChipDaddyTV)
Oli Parsons (TheOrionSound)
Emma Blackery

Photography: Dave Bird (top left; bottom right)

Joel Berghult

YouTube musician and comedian Joel is most well-known for his viral One Guy, 14 Voices video, which he reprised in 2015 and again in 2016. He recently also performed live at London’s YouTube Space.

Joel took part in the Music on YouTube panel at Summer in the City 2015, remarking that if you intend to release original music on your channel you should do so early on, otherwise your audience may only be interested in your covers.

Sophie Foster

Sophie posts a variety of videos including hauls, makeup tutorials, and weekly discussion videos on topics such as sexuality and love and fitting in at parties.

Sophie came out as bi and demisexual for the first time in her most recent Q&A video. On whether it should be necessary for people to come out, she said: “You do not have to label yourself as anything if you do not want to. And also when it comes to labels, you can change them. They are not set in stone, they do not define you.”

Jodie Porteous

Nearly on 150,000 subscribers, Jodie is known for testing affordable makeup brands from various stores such as Asda, Poundland, and H&M.

In her most popular video, Jodie shows viewers how to make DIY school supplies such as stress balls, pen pots, and personalised notebooks.

Jamie Cottrell

Jamie posts a mix of vlogs, challenges and parodies of popular songs on his channel. One of his longest channel series is titled Shit That Pisses Me Off. The series is dedicated to rants on various topics such movies, school, and the internet.

Jamie has also released his own music, with his most popular song, Boy Racer, reaching Number 2 in the iTunes charts.

Photography: Dave Bird (bottom right)

Sammy Paul

At Buffer Festival, Sammy premiered his new monologue-driven short film One Another, starring Daniel J. Layton and Emma Richardson.

Sammy’s short film Friend Like Me was part of New Form Digital’s Incubator series in 2016, and in 2017 his joint project with Bertie Gilbert, Playground, made the cut.

On Summer in the City’s Popularity vs. Integrity panel in 2016, Sammy affirmed that he’s never sought out views through clickbait, saying: “I think that sometimes it’s more about whose eyes are on it rather than how many eyes on it.”

Gabriel Sey

Not your normal fitness channel, as he himself puts it, Gabriel’s videos includes a mix of workout tutorials, vlogs, and comedy skits.

“Firstly, I don’t take myself too seriously,” Gabriel shares in his channel trailer. “Fitness is meant to be hard at times, but it’s also meant to be fun, right? Not soul-destroying.”

With both Gabriel and The Lean Machines attending 2017’s Summer in the City, we’re expecting a Summer in the City YouTube Fitness panel.

Oli Parsons

Oli’s channel is dedicated equally to gaming and music. He uploads regular Minecraft commentary videos, and has also released plenty of covers of pop songs such as Bad Blood by Taylor Swift and Cheerleader by OMI, as well as his own original songs.

Oli spoke on Summer in the City’s Balancing YouTube With Everyday Life panel in 2016, alongside others such as Emma Blackery and Anna and Jonathan Saccone-Joly. He also took part in the event’s Super Smash Bros tournament.

Emma Blackery

2016 was an incredibly busy year for Emma. Some of her biggest achievements included the release of her Sucks To Be You EP while she was on tour with Busted and Wheatus, and her first headline tour which took place in October.

Emma was the headline performer at Summer in the City 2016. She also received a special mention that year at the event’s first awards ceremony for her song, Sucks To Be You.

Emma will also be releasing her first book in 2017. Feel Good 101 will be a collection of advice and personal stories which, Emma had her nine-year-old sister in mind when writing: “I want her to be able to read it and feel as though I’m there, even when I can’t be. I want this to be the real, honest advice book I never had.”

Announced on 21 February:

Photography: Dave Bird (top right)

Raphael Gomes

Rapha is a Portugal-born, London-living vlogger who creates DIY videos and loves Nutella. As part of his long-running AMERICAN vs. British series, he compares British and American versions of things such as McDonald’s, pound shops, and Halloween candy baskets. His content led to him securing a place on YouTube’s NextUp series back in 2013.

Known also for his baking, Rapha featured on Summer in the City’s Baking/Cooking panel in 2015. He said that the idea for his first cooking video originated with his mother telling him about a two-minute chocolate cake recipe. He thought it would be disgusting, but tried it anyway and the video went viral.

Jake Mitchell

After being nominated for Breakthrough of the Year at the very first Summer in the City Awards in 2016, Jake jetted off to Amsterdam in November to record YouTuber charity single Christmas Without You alongside Saffron Barker and a whole host of international creators.

Jake will be performing live at YouTube Space London on 24 February to celebrate the release of his new single, Echoes. The song is available to download from iTunes.

Fabulous Hannah

Hannah’s most popular video, 10 Easy Hairstyles for SHORT Hair, has reached over eight million views. Her content has gained attention across the YouTube community, with Alfie Deyes including her in his 3 YOUTUBERS YOU NEED TO WATCH video back in October.

Liam Scott Edwards

Liam has just crossed the 100,000 subscribers milestone. On his channel, you’ll find all kinds of Pokémon-related videos, such as lists, let’s plays, theory videos and much more. A popular series on his channel is the Wi-Fi Battles with Viewers. Liam guested on the Pokémon YouTuber panel at Summer in the City 2016 and he also runs a podcast called the Elite Four with fellow PokéTubers Bird Keeper Toby, Philip Winnall, and CandyEvie.

Phil Green

2013 Britain’s Got Talent finalist Phil Green will be back at the ExCeL Centre this year for Summer in the City. At the 2016 event, he performed a cover of a Meghan Trainor song as part of Lip Sync Karaoke.

Since then, he has uploaded plenty of musical numbers, including parodies of Ariana Grande’s Side to Side and Jacob Sartorius’ Sweatshirt which have netted him around two million views alone.

Jasmine Clough

January 2017 marked Jasmine’s two-year anniversary on YouTube, and her most popular video, the very first Sister Goals Dubsmash featuring Jasmine’s sister Sophie, has recently crossed 1.5 million views. Viewers can even buy merch based on the series! Jasmine also recently attended L’Oreal’s Colorista party.

Jack Howard and Dean Dobbs

Having wrapped filming for Season Two of Jack and Dean of All Trades in 2016, Jack and Dean held a screening of the second season in London on 20 February. They will be also appearing on an upcoming episode in Season Three of Drunk History, set for transmission on Comedy Central later in 2017.

Dean has spent 2017 recording episodes of his upcoming podcast, We Need To Talk About Games, based on a video series on his YouTube channel of the same name.

Jack featured on the Creative Process panel at Summer in the City 2016, and the pair also took to the main stage to perform their live show. They also performed the song Consent, a topic Jack spoke to Childline about as part of the #ListenToYourSelfie campaign in 2016.

Announced on 22 February:

Mikey Murphy
Hannah Witton
Barry Lewis (My Virgin Kitchen)
Adil Mirza (xAcceptiion)
Jasmin (Jazzybum)
Charlie Short
Jack Dean (Jaackmaate)
Connie Glynn (Noodlerella)

Photography: Dave Bird (top right)

Mikey Murphy

Self-proclaimed “average internet vlogger” Mikey Murphy is best known for his comedy videos with best friend Luke Korns, the Audience Challenge series, and his self-directed short films. Back in 2015, Mikey starred in AwesomenessTV’s series Royal Crush, and he has been nominated for Breakout YouTuber in the upcoming Shorty Awards.

Mikey appeared on the Popularity vs. Integrity panel at 2016’s Summer in the City, alongside fellow YouTubers Sammy Paul, Luke Korns, and Savannah Brown.

Hannah Witton

In 2016, Hannah announced her debut book, Doing It: Let’s Talk About Sex. Speaking to TenEighty, she said: “I hope that people find comfort in the book that they’re normal and I hope that the knowledge it brings them about sex, bodies, relationships, etc empowers them to take pride in themselves and give them a little boost of confidence.” She will be heading on tour in April to celebrate the book’s release.

Hannah was part of a whole load panels at Summer in the City 2016, including Let’s Talk about Sex, Oversharing, and YouTube For Good. Her long-running series Drunk Advice was nominated for the YouTuber Series of the Year at the Summer in the City Awards.

Connie Glynn

Connie creates impression videos, covers, and DIY style videos on her channel. Her most popular video is DISNEY IMPRESSIONS!! Singing and Speaking (ALL THE DISNEY GIRLS!!), which has amassed over seven million views. She was also featured on the Inspired by Japan panel at Summer in the City 2016.

Connie is currently working on her first novel, which will be part of a series titled The Rosewood Chronicles. The series, set in a boarding school, is described by Connie as “a thrilling world of parties, politics, and badass princesses”.

Check out the cover for our upcoming interview with Connie!

Barry Lewis

Chef, author, and YouTuber Barry Lewis runs the channel My Virgin Kitchen with his wife Becky. The self-taught couple shares a wide range of easy-to-follow baking and cooking tutorials.

Barry was featured on Summer in the City’s Baking/Cooking panel in 2015, alongside YouTubers Raphael Gomes, Ben Ebbrell, and Jamie Jo. “Everything I cook is me cooking it for the first time,” he said. “What I really like about it is the community get involved and tell me what I did wrong.”

Photography: Dave Bird (top left; bottom right)

Charlie Short

Charlie creates theatrical and special effects makeup tutorials, mostly based on viewer requests. He also uploads prank videos to “help make you smile”.

“Whether you’re after freaky makeup ideas, cosplay help, freaky transformation methods, or just some ideas for how to freak your friends out, this in the place for you,” he says in his channel trailer.

Adil Mirza

Adil has earned a large following on his channel for his playthroughs and tips about FIFA. His video showing how to collect 50,000 coins in five minutes in FIFA 16 has been viewed over a million times.

Jasmin (Jazzybum)

Jasmin uploads a range of DIY videos and tutorials, but she is best known for her Primark haul videos, which she uploads on a regular basis. In 2016, she was nominated for Nickelodeon’s Teen Choice Awards for UK Favourite Breakthrough Vlogger.

Jack Dean

Based in Norwich, Jack’s channel consists of opinion videos, collabs, and comedy sketches. He recently teamed up with Amazon Student to give a fan’s flat a makeover, and every Christmas, he helps raise money for the homeless with the help of his audience.

In 2016, Jack teamed up with fellow YouTubers to launch football channel, Sporf FC.

At Summer in the City 2016, Jack featured on the Comedy and Calling People Out panels. In a discussion about comedic boundaries on YouTube, he said: “I don’t think you should ever apologise for a joke.”

Announced on 23 February:

Luke Korns
Emily Hartridge
Pete Bucknall
Alexander Brooks (MarzBar)
Millie Taylforth (Millymooboo1)
Cherry Wallis
Sam King
Evan Edinger

Photography: Dave Bird (bottom left)

Cherry Wallis

Harry Potter fanatic, vlogger, and makeup guru Cherry Wallis has previously been part of Summer in the City panels such as Women on YouTube in 2016 as well as the Dealing with Trolls back in 2015.

Cherry took home a Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Award at the beginning of 2016. In October she posted a series of Halloween-themed SFX makeup tutorials featuring characters like Snow White, Harley Quinn, and the Joker.

She also recently starred in Hungerford sequel The Darkest Dawn alongside Bethan Leadley and Stuart Ashens.

Evan Edinger

Evan will be returning to Summer in the City after being a part of the Creator/Viewer divide and the Fandom panels in 2016. On the subject of meeting viewers, Evan shared a lesson he learned from Ed Sheeran – that a person may only meet you that one time and it is important to “give 100%, even if you don’t feel like it”.

We definitely expect Evan to be competing in the Super Smash Bros. 2017 tournament this August after watching his epic win at Summer in the City 2016 (and then collecting his award dressed as none other than Yoshi).

Sam King

In 2016, Sam was nominated for UK Favourite Breakthrough Vlogger at Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards and Prank of the Year at the first ever BONCAs. His most popular video is BRITISH BOY TRIES AMERICAN CANDY, which has over a million views.

Luke Korns

Luke has earned a large following on his channel through vlogging and documenting his travels. His most popular video is a collaboration with French Instagrammer Sulivan Gwed called America vs France, in which the pair test their cooking and drawing skills.

Photography: Dave Bird (top right)

Millie Taylforth

Millie uploads a mix of hauls, life hacks, reaction videos, and vlogs, with her most successful video being Reacting To The F*CKGIRL Musical.ly Compilation! (Part 1).

She recently collaborated with fellow YouTuber Spencer Elmer on a video titled EXTREME Guy Vs. Girl What’s In My Mouth Challenge *PERIOD PAD* and has over 300,000 subscribers on her channel.

Pete Bucknall

Musician, actor, vlogger, and Disney-lover Pete Bucknall will be returning to Summer in the City in August. In 2016, he was part of the panel about Balancing YouTube with Everyday Life alongside fellow creators Emma Blackery, Chris Foxx, and Anna and Jonathon Saccone-Joly.

On the panel, Pete’s response to negative comments was: “Focussing on it for a while and noticing it is not a bad thing. […] It might be constructive criticism, it’s how you let it go.”

Pete’s most popular video is a cover of I See the Light from Disney’s Tangled, on which he duetted with Carrie Hope Fletcher. The pair recently visited Disney World together, which he documented in a vlog on his channel.

Alexander Brooks

Gaming YouTuber Alex has gained a large following for his gaming setup videos, Minecraft series, and the vlogs on his second channel. He is best known for his vlog I got Robbed whilst making a YouTube video which has gained over seven million views.

Alex also hosts live streams on his Twitch channel every Sunday evening.

Emily Hartridge

Emily Hartridge is known for her popular series 10 Reasons Why, which sparked a career in TV presenting. Her most successful video. Boobs are AWESOME… 10 Reasons Why, has garnered nearly 18 million views.

Emily has also spoken openly about her mental health on YouTube, with a series of videos on her channel in which she shares advice on how to cope with anxiety and depression.

Announced on 24 February:

Photography: Dave Bird

Ricky Dillon

Ricky is returning guest to Summer in the City, having been a part of the Fandom panel in 2016. “I was fans of my half of the people who are my friends now,” he admitted then. “It’s a weird but cool position to be in.”

Since then he has been busy, appearing in brand new reality series Crashed on go90, in which unsuspecting fans are nominated by friends to have their favourite celebrities show up on an “otherwise normal day and turn it into an unforgettable experience”.

Alongside this, he was part of the Drop the Mic lip-syncing tour alongside other creators such as Gabbie Hanna and Andrew Lowe.

Jon Cozart

2017 saw Jon nominated at the Summer in the City Awards in the category of YouTube Song of the Year for YouTube Culture. He was up against the likes of Anna Akana and Steve Zaragoza.

He also performed a main stage concert that year, which included performances of Awkward Duet and Human with dodie, alongside the popular After Ever After. Since then, he has commemorated the death of Vine with a video/song with Thomas Sanders named RIP Vine, that parodies Agony from Into The Woods.

Jon was one of the many creators included in the TenEighty Yearbook which was shot at Summer in the City 2016. He has also been nominated for YouTuber of the Year at 2017’s Shorty Awards.

Victoria Magrath

In 2016, Victoria was named part of L’Oréal Paris’s “beauty squad”, alongside Emily-Victoria Canham, Patricia Bright and more.

“I think the first time I ever wore makeup was for my dancing shows back when I was seven. Bold red lips and mascara with lots of Elnett!” she shared with the brand.

Victoria also supported the British Heart Foundation that year by donating designer beauty products and accessories to the charity’s pop-up boutique in Covent Garden, London.

Continuing to support charitable causes in 2017, Victoria is one of the faces of L’Oréal Paris UK’s newly-launched All Worth It campaign – a partnership with The Prince’s Trust to offer up to 10,000 young adults confidence training in 18 centres across the UK. The training will focus on body language, communication, relationships, and employability.

Oli White

“There is one man, who makes videos like no other,” claims Oli’s channel trailer.

Fresh off the announcement of the second novel in the Generation Next series, Oli White is going to be taking part in Summer in the City 2017. The vlogger, who has over four million subscribers across three channels, also recently attended the BRIT Awards which took place on 22 February.

Oli uploads a number of videos with his brother, James. A popular series the pair collaborate on is Brothers Do Science.

He will also be a guest panellist at Niche’s #CreatorDay on 25 February, discussing how to build and maintain a successful career online.

Chris Kendall

A longstanding member of the YouTube community, Chris has recently returned to the platform with two videos and the promise of more to come.

As an actor, Chris’s most acclaimed role has been as Oliver in PJ Liguori‘s Vimeo series, Oscar’s Hotel for Fantastical Creatures. The series bagged three Streamy Awards in 2016, with Chris taking Best Actor.

In September, Chris worked on comedy web series Whipped, which was released on his channel. More recently, he starred in Bertie Gilbert’s Playground, and Chris and Mitchell Make a Show by Mitchell Davis, both for the New Form Digital Incubator series.

Jack Maynard

Jack Maynard hosted the BONCAs in 2016 alongside his brother Conor. Jack was also nominated for Newcomer 2016 at that year’s awards. Mikey Pearce‘s video GOING TO THEATRE SCHOOL !!, which featured Jack, was nominated for Comedy Sketch of the Year.

On his own channel, Jack uploads a range of pranks, challenges, and vlogs, many also featuring his brother. His most popular video at over 3.5 million views, is REAL WOULD YOU RATHER with Joe Sugg.

Leanne Lim-Walker

2016 was one of significant personal growth for Leanne, documented in a video on her channel, where she also uploads a range of hair tutorials, lookbooks, and favourites videos. He most popular video, How I use velcro rollers, has garnered nearly 300,000 views.

In her latest blog post, Leanne shared a series of images of herself without makeup and her decision to start sometimes going barefaced. “The thought of going out, in public, barefaced has always scared me,” she says. “I know I look/feel better with makeup on. Oh, the power of makeup. It’s not necessarily covering up, it’s utilising products and techniques to show off our best features.”

The blog discusses our relationship with makeup, hair and beauty products, and why people choose to use them. She adds: “A public service announcement: we don’t dress, wear makeup, do anything for men. We do it because WE like how it looks.”

Photography: Dave Bird (bottom left)

Lewys Ball

Describing himself as a “YouTuber, makeup lover, and a total dog person”, Lewys’s videos range from hauls and reviews to challenges and makeup tutorials for teenage boys. His most popular video discusses fashion trends in 2016, and why they should be left in that year.

In another video, he compares his everyday makeup to the makeup he wears for Instagram. He has also attempted the five-minute makeup challenge.

Lucy and Lydia Connell

On their joint channel, twins and beauty vloggers Lucy and Lydia upload plenty of hauls, favourites, and “get the look” videos, as well as beauty, hair and makeup tutorials.

Inspired by James Corden, in November the pair uploaded their very own carpool karaoke with Niki and Sammy Albon.

Lucy and Lydia will be the digital hosts for Niche’s #CreatorDay on 25 February, taking over @TwitterUK for the day to cover the event.

Bethan Leadley

2016 saw Bethan’s acting debut in Wildseed Studios’ film, The Darkest Dawn, which is a sequel to Hungerford. She has also continued to be a presence on traditional media, presenting 4Music’s The UK Music Video Chart.

Her YouTube output has not slowed with many videos covering a variety of topics like Learning To Embrace Natural Beauty, The Worst Date I’ve Ever Been On, and That Time I Was In An Alien Apocalypse.

Also on YouTube is her music, whether it’s her original work like Kiss Me Once or her Summer in the City Award-nominated song Fall For You, or her covers like When by dodie or City of Stars from La La Land.

Morgan Hudson

Morgan has had a bumper 2016, growing from 8,000 subscribers at the beginning of the year to cracking the one million mark before the end. He’s currently at 1.5 million subscribers.

As his popularity has grown, he has taken the opportunity to release a clothing line called Morgz Apparel for his fans.

He is known for a number of collaborations with his mother, from pranks to WWE-related content.

Photography: Dave Bird (top right; bottom left)

Josh Pieters

After being nominated for two awards at the BONCAs in October, Josh took home the award for Newcomer 2016, beating the likes of Saffron Barker and Sean Elliott O’Connor.

In our interview with Josh, we asked about his advice for aspiring creators. “It’s such a saturated industry now that you need to find your own path and do your own type of thing,” he said. “Even if it’s not a totally original idea, if you can put your own spin on it, that’s what people appreciate.”

Josh will be speaking about how to master live streaming at Niche’s #CreatorDay on 25 February.

Chanel Ambrose

Many of her fans have seen Chanel at BeautyCon 2016, talking about various aspects of beauty. Her channel focuses on plus-size fashion and style, with a playlist dedicated to this theme.

Besides her channel, she is the owner of cosmetics company Amby Rose Cosmetics, selling beauty products such as high-performance makeup brushes and long-lasting fake eyelashes.

Mark Ferris

Mark is a returning guest to Summer in the City, with 2017 bringing him a nomination for the event’s Breakthrough Award.

When we asked Mark what his proudest moment of 2016 was, he said: “Hitting 100,000 subscribers!! NEVER thought that would happen.”

And his biggest goal for 2017? “I’d love to hit half a million and take my family on holiday!”

Regularly collaborating with friend Zoe Sugg, his content varies from baking to traditional sit-down vlogs to challenge videos.

Lucy Moon

At Summer in the City 2016, Lucy spoke on the Creative Process and the Women on YouTube panels, where she discussed the unique issues that women face on the platform.

Lucy was part of the NextUp programme in 2016. She has just uploaded her first lookbook, showcasing both her fashion sense and musical taste in one. A popular series on her channel is 168 Hours, where she uploads vlogs that cover a whole week.

Earlier in 2017, Lucy played the role of Olive Abroholos Elephanta from Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children for a Linda Blacker photoshoot.

Words by Poppy Dillon, Liam MacBean, Daria Skubich, Elizabeth Bridges, Tom Bown, Sam Gillard, Maddy Jennings, and Conor Riley.

Photos by Rebecca Need-Menear, Jon D Barker, Dave Bird, and Olly Newport.