About Hay Festival

Hay Festival brings readers and writers together to share stories and ideas in sustainable events around the world. The festivals inspire, examine and entertain, inviting participants to imagine the world as it is and as it might be.

Nobel Prize-winners and novelists, scientists and politicians, historians and musicians talk with audiences in a dynamic exchange of ideas. Hay Festival’s global conversation shares the latest thinking in the arts and sciences with curious audiences live, in print and digitally. Hay Festival also runs wide programmes of education work supporting coming generations of writers and culturally hungry audiences of all ages.

Directors

Terry Burns, Geraint Davies, Peter Florence, Cristina Fuentes la Roche, Nik Gowing, Guto Harri, Caroline Michel Chair, Francine Stock, Michelle Walder.

Staff

Christopher Bone Publicity Director, Maria Carreras Sponsorship & Fundraising, Amanda Cartwright Finance Director, Penny Compton Box Office Manager, Maria Sheila Cremaschi Directora Spain, Yamile David Production, Hay Festival Querétaro, Ángela Delgado Valdivia Development, Hay Festival Arequipa, Julia Eccleshare HAYDAYS Director, Paul Elkington Operations Director, Oscar Montes Erikson Development, Hay Festival Querétaro, Peter Florence Director, Andy Fryers Sustainability Director, Cristina Fuentes La Roche International Director, Diana Gedeón Production, Cartagena, Izara García Rodríguez Producer Latin America, Gareth Howell-Jones Bookshop Manager, Maggie Kerr Development Director, Marian Lally Accounts, Adrian Lambert Chief of Staff, Angharad Lloyd Correspondent, Amalia de Pombo Development Director Cartagena, Paul Richardson Online Systems, Joana Rodell-Jones Sponsorship Executive, Zoe Romero Miranda Artist Manager Latin America, Heather Salisbury Artist Manager, Becky Shaw Communications Director, Catrin Slater Company Secretary, Aine Venables Education Manager, Pete Ward Administrator, Fred Wright Site Designer.

Hay, just like the BBC Proms, has become a great Summer tradition, and thanks to our partnership everyone is invited to join us.

Tony Hall, Director General, BBC – Global Broadcast Partners

We think that Hay is one of the UK’s great cultural institutions.

David Landsman, Executive Director, Tata Group – Global Education Partners

Hay is a crucible for progressive thinking and action. This is a fascinating, opinion-shaping event and audience, that I look forward to every year.

Juliet Davenport, CEO, Good Energy – Venue & Series Partners

We see a strong similarity between those who attend literary festivals and those who invest in investment trusts such as the ones we manage.

Michelle McLeod, Baillie Gifford – Series Sponsor

“Hay is a Renaissance-style festival focused on solving humanity’s problems through literature, science and philosophy while Davos is a more technocratic affair…Hay is a richer experience and perhaps a more lasting one”

Reuters

For 30 years Hay has lit a beacon for Enlightenment. In a volatile world of anger and corrupted language, the festival champions empathy and curiosity.

Stories and truths are told, ideas are shared, and everyone is encouraged to imagine the world from other perspectives and with renewed and audacious hope.

Caroline Michel, Chair, Hay Festival

Festival Reports

Hay Festival Foundation