US election: when is the Democratic convention and why does it matter?

The Democratic national convention will be held in Chicago from 19 to 22 August.

Chicago previously played host to the convention in 1996, when Bill Clinton was nominated for re-election, and 1968 when Hubert Humphrey was nominated.

Two venues in Chicago will host the convention: the United Center arena for evening programming, and McCormick Place convention center for daytime sessions.

Harris and Walz will both speak at the convention, and Biden is also expected to give an address. The full lineup of speakers has not yet been released (Republicans only released the names of confirmed speakers the day of their July convention).

However, several big names have been reported:

In 2020, the virtual convention included speeches from Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jill Biden and a host of other elected officials.

The party will livestream the convention on its Democratic national convention website and on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

The Guardian has a team of reporters in Chicago and will be covering the convention in depth, including live blogs each night.

Major news networks are likely to carry prime-time programming. PBS will have live coverage beginning at 8pm each night.

The convention usually includes a roll call to formally nominate their candidate. However, the rule-making group for the Democratic National Committee established procedures for candidates to contest the primary nomination ahead of the convention.

The party has signaled its plans to foreground up-and-coming Democrats in its programming. Likely speakers include the Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, Maryland governor, Wes Moore, and Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, among others.

Meanwhile, many political influencers have been credentialed, including the socialist podcast host Daniel Denvir.

Yes. Organizers expect tens of thousands of people to protest outside the Democratic national convention to pressure the party to stop the war in Gaza. Inside the convention, uncommitted delegates plan to push anti-war demands in hopes of winning more allies to the cause and influencing the party platform.

Protests are not unique to the Democratic convention; during the Republican convention in July, protesters led a demonstration against Trump and his party in downtown Milwaukee.

The next presidential debate is scheduled for 10 September, with both Harris and Trump confirmed.

A debate between JD Vance and Walz has been confirmed for 1 October.