About Us

Welcome to a world of different... Hay Festival is a charity providing global festivals of stories, ideas, and new possibilities. 

Based in the booktown of Hay-on-Wye, Wales, Hay Festival Global is the antidote to polarisation. We bring together diverse voices to listen, talk, debate and create, tackling some of the biggest political, social and environmental challenges of our time.

Through one-of-a-kind festivals, in unique locations around the world – plus forums, digital platforms and learning programmes – Hay Festival Global celebrates and inspires different views, perspectives, and points of view.

In 1987, the Festival was dreamt up. Thirty-seven years later, Hay Festival Global runs events and projects all over the world, from the historic town of Cartagena in Colombia to the heart of cities in Peru, Mexico, Spain and the USA. The charity reaches a global audience of millions each year and continues to grow and innovate, earning multiple awards over the years, including Festival of Sanctuary status from refugee charity City of Sanctuary UK and, in 2020, Spain’s Princess of Asturias Award in Communication and Humanities.

Find out more about how you can support our work.

“Former President Bill Clinton, who has attended in the past, called Hay Festival the ‘Woodstock of the mind.’ My colleague Sarah Lyall, once described it as a Sundance for Bibliophiles, minus the Hollywood swag. The bottom line is this: Hay Festival democratizes inspiration.” 

Katrin Bennhold, The New York Times

HAY FESTIVAL TRUSTEES

Caroline Michel (Chair), Corisande Albert, Victoria Bejarano, Rosie Boycott, Nick Butler, Elan Closs Stephens, Geraint Davies, Tony Followell, Suhair Khan, David Olusoga, Philippe Sands, Ed Shedd, Shakia Stewart.

FESTIVAL PRESIDENT

Stephen Fry