Events for Children and Young People

Join Alex Wharton, Children’s Laureate Wales, and be transported by creative electricity, joy and mystery. In this event poetry, rap and songs dance together as one. Combining his four collections of fizzy-dizzy words, he seeks to connect us, transport us and inspire a love of playful, curious and imaginative language.

Alex Wharton is an award-winning writer and performer of poetry for adults and children. His first book of poetry for children, Daydreams and Jellybeans, was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year Award, the Lollies Book Awards, and was named as a National Poetry Day Recommended Read.

Come and join Rooted Forest School for some outdoor family sessions offering natural creativity for everyone. We’ll use willow and natural materials to create a collaborative piece of nature art in the Family Garden. Dress for the weather and expect to get messy! These sessions will run whatever the weather, so make sure you’re wrapped up for the conditions.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven.

Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

Spend a special afternoon with author Michael Morpurgo and musician and actor Ben Murray, as they retell War Horse in this moving concert.

First published in 1982, War Horse is one of Morpurgo’s best known and most beloved books. It has gone on to be adapted for the stage in an award-winning production by the National Theatre and for the screen in a Steven Spielberg film.

Told from the perspective of a young farm horse Joey, it follows his story as he is taken from the fields of Devon to the Western Front after being sold to the British Army in 1914. With his officer, Joey charges towards the enemy, witnessing the horror of the frontline.

In this event, Morpurgo retells an abridged version of War Horse accompanied by music and songs from Murray, who previously played the Songman in the National Theatre production of the book.

How do you create world-changing television that resonates across generations? How do you bring ambitious, complex stories to life for global audiences? Join Jane Tranter, CEO of Bad Wolf and executive producer of award-winning television shows such as His Dark Materials, Industry and Succession, as she shares the journey behind her career – from navigating an ever-evolving television landscape, to setting up her own production company.

In this workshop-style event, Jane will draw on her extensive experience to offer invaluable insights and advice for aspiring storytellers looking to make their mark in the television industry.

This event is one of a Hay Festival series of sessions delivered by inspiring producers and practitioners from the creative industries, giving their insights, experience and advice on progression in their field.

Please bring your own notebook and pen to this event.

Come and join Rooted Forest School for some outdoor family sessions offering natural creativity for everyone. We’ll use willow and natural materials to create a collaborative piece of nature art in the Family Garden. Dress for the weather and expect to get messy! These sessions will run whatever the weather, so make sure you’re wrapped up for the conditions.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven.

Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven.

Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

Join much-loved actor and activist Michael Sheen for a family event to launch A Home for Spark the Dragon – a heartwarming story about the importance of finding a home, written in association with national home and homelessness charity Shelter. When Spark the dragon wakes up and finds a storm has destroyed his nest, he tries to find a new place to live. But Spark soon discovers that a house needs more than just walls to feel like home. Will he ever find the right place for him?

Shimmy up to hear the ballroom star, Strictly Come Dancing judge and author Anton Du Beke talk about his new book for young readers with CBeebies presenter Maddie Moate.

Set in Britain during WW2, the book sees 10-year-old twins Harry and Rosie evacuated to live with their great uncle on the Lancashire coast. Missing the vibrancy of London and the dancers at the tearoom where their mother works, they throw themselves into a local Christmas show. But when Harry sees strange lights out on the treacherous mudflats, he and Rosie discover their new home is hiding huge secrets…

Get your Hay day off to a brilliant start with our daily Ready, Steady, Music workshops! With different activities each day, these interactive, fun-filled sessions for mini musicians and their grown-ups will have you tapping sticks, roaring like dinosaurs, flying with unicorns, dancing with scarves, playing with parachutes and so much more. Come and meet our puppets, explore our range of instruments and listen to the beautiful sound of the cello.

Captivating young imaginations and creating lasting memories, these sessions offer a unique musical adventure. The perfect way to boost wellbeing, increase confidence, spark creativity and introduce children to the joy of music.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven.

Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven.

Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

The author of Safiyyah’s War weaves a powerful story of friendship and family set during the violence and chaos of Indian partition, as two friends desperately try to make it to the right side of the border in time.

It’s 1947 in Lahore. Jahan and Ravi spend their days racing, wrestling and teasing each other. Jahan’s dad works for the British government and the boys hear snippets about the end of the British Raj and a partition of India. Tensions are rising throughout the city and beyond. Then word comes that there are only two days until the partition. Families must flee through desperate violence – will the boys ever see each other again?

Have you ever wondered where animals live in nature? Author and illustrator Emma Carlisle will lead a gentle storytelling session based on her beautiful book A Home is a Nest, exploring homes and family in nature, from the cosiness of winter dens to the arrival of spring and bird’s first flight. She’ll show you how to draw your favourite woodland creatures, and there’ll be a chance for you to ask Emma questions and get your book signed.

Emma Carlisle is a highly acclaimed illustrator, artist and lecturer in Children’s Illustration at the University of Plymouth. Her book What Do You See When You Look at a Tree? was shortlisted for the 2022 Waterstones Children’s Prize.

Buckle in for a mind-blowing science ride with TikTok superstar Big Manny and children’s TV presenter Maddie Moate. Big Manny reveals all about physics, from sound waves to circuits and mad magnetism to fantastic friction. Want to bend water or build an electroscope? He’s your man. Maddie Moate takes a look inside everyday objects and marvellous machines to see how they work, from microwaves to smart speakers to supermarket checkouts, and explains why roundabouts make you dizzy!

Big Manny is a science-first content creator with a master’s degree in biomedical science. He has a combined following of 2.9 million on TikTok and Instagram. His latest book is Science is Lit: Awesome Electricity and Mad Magnets.

Maddie Moate is a BAFTA-winning presenter, star of CBeebies’ Do You Know? and non-fiction children’s author. Her new book is How Does it Work? Explore Machines and Objects, from Fridges to Fire Engines!

Have you ever wondered where animals live in nature? Author and illustrator Emma Carlisle will lead a gentle storytelling session based on her beautiful book A Home is a Nest, exploring homes and family in nature, from the cosiness of winter dens to the arrival of spring and bird’s first flight. She’ll show you how to draw your favourite woodland creatures, and there’ll be a chance for you to ask Emma questions and get your book signed.

Emma Carlisle is a highly acclaimed illustrator, artist and lecturer in Children’s Illustration at the University of Plymouth. Her book What Do You See When You Look at a Tree? was shortlisted for the 2022 Waterstones Children’s Prize.

If you’re a keen detective in the making, join the award-winning comedian and meet Montgomery Bonbon, the world’s finest detective. Learn how to walk, talk and detect like a sleuth in this event for ages 7–11 – anyone over 11 should get the permission of a child before booking!

Alasdair Beckett-King studied at the London Film School, and since then he has performed critically lauded solo shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, written for BBC Radio, appeared on comedy panel shows such as Mock the Week, co-written an award-winning video game and created numerous viral sketches for social media, including an interactive whodunnit.

Where do you get started in comedy, as a writer, creator or performer? And what do you do when the industry wants you to be one thing, but your best work is spread across disciplines? Rachel Parris is a Bafta-nominated comedian and writer (The Mash Report, Live at the Apollo, Have I Got News For You) with experience of writing stand-up, radio comedy, TV satire and songs, as well as fiction and non-fiction books. She’ll discuss carving out your own unique path in a complicated and changing industry. Bring your own questions!

One of a Hay Festival series of sessions delivered by inspiring producers and practitioners from the creative industries, giving their insights, experience and advice on progression in their field.

Please bring your own notebook and pen to this event.

The activist and bestselling feminist writer introduces the second instalment in her epic Arthurian fantasy series. Sisters of Fire and Fury is a reimagining of the tales of the Arthurian Round Table through a feminist lens. Discover the Sisterhood of Silk Knights who live in a world of ancient feuds and glorious battles and who are determined to protect their community and right the wrongs of men.

Laura will share her original inspiration, her action-packed research at Knight school and why she hopes this novel will bring joy to feminists young and old. The founder of the Everyday Sexism Project has made waves in YA fiction with her Sisters of Sword and Shadow series, combining mythic elements with contemporary feminist themes.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven.

Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven.

Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

Travel through time back to Ancient Egypt with the author of the Adventures on Trains and The Twitchers series. Discover how a trip down the Nile inspired her newest fast-paced adventure, the first in her new Time Keys series. Explore the Valley of the Kings, where the tombs of the Pharaohs can be found, unravel the ancient art of mummification, learn about heart scarabs, the Book of the Dead and the possible location of the lost tomb of Nefertiti. The perfect event for adventure enthusiasts, budding Egyptologists and time travellers!

Author/illustrator Huw Aaron performs a laugh-out-loud read-along of his new picture book Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob – because even monsters need a bedtime story! You can also join in a wild and wacky monster draw-along with Huw. Warm, funny… and slimy, Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob is a rhyming delight, ending with a kiss and sweet dreams for all.

Please bring your own sketchbook and pencils to this event.

Get your Hay day off to a brilliant start with our daily Ready, Steady, Music workshops! With different activities each day, these interactive, fun-filled sessions for mini musicians and their grown-ups will have you tapping sticks, roaring like dinosaurs, flying with unicorns, dancing with scarves, playing with parachutes and so much more. Come and meet our puppets, explore our range of instruments and listen to the beautiful sound of the cello.

Captivating young imaginations and creating lasting memories, these sessions offer a unique musical adventure. The perfect way to boost wellbeing, increase confidence, spark creativity and introduce children to the joy of music.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven.

Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven.

Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

Strap in for the launch of Cressida Cowell’s How to Train your Dragon School: Doom of the Darkwing, her first novel in the Dragon world for 10 years. This new series follows Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and his dragons Toothless and Windwalker, who have joined the Viking and Dragon Training School on the Isle of Berk, to learn how to be great barbarians and dragon sidekicks. And before they know it, they are bottom in pretty much everything… These new standalone adventures are action-packed and perfect for developing readers.

Please bring your own sketchbook and pencils to this event.

We present the winning authors and illustrators of the 2025 IBC Awards in this interactive family storytelling event. IBC (Inclusive Books for Children) is a charity with a free website for families, schools and libraries to help easily choose books for a more inclusive bookshelf. Showcasing stories that represent all types of family, they feature books with a variety of ethnicities, positive images of disabilities and different identities.

The annual IBC Awards celebrate the talent behind the best new inclusive children’s books published in the UK across three categories: baby and toddler books (1–3 years), picture books (3–7 years) and highly illustrated children’s fiction (5–9 years).

The Festival bookshop features a dedicated Inclusive Books for Children section showcasing IBC’s top-reviewed books of the year. Come along and get your books signed after the event!

Following the success of last year’s production at Hay Festival, we’re thrilled to present a delightful 30-minute, family-friendly adaptation of As You Like It by William Shakespeare, directed by award-winning writer and director Greg Banks. Performed by Hereford College of Arts Performing Arts degree students, this lively rendition of the classic comedy is filled with love, laughter and unforgettable characters.

Clown around with the sensational Tweedy the Clown, who’ll bring the magic of the circus to life with his antics.

Tweedy’s new laugh-out-loud picture book adventure is Tweedy: The Clown Who Lost His Nose, illustrated by Daniel Duncan, in which Tweedy causes chaos as he tries to chase after his lost nose.

Join award-winning author and illustrator Owen Davey as he introduces us to his incredible new book Zoom Out, which is all about animals and their incredible ecosystems. Owen will be showcasing how to draw some of your favourite animals, alongside a conversation with the World Wildlife Fund about the importance of conservation.

In the book, Owen shows the role that each animal plays in its ecosystem, helping us understand that animals aren’t just valuable in their own right – they’re also part of a wider natural environment. Owen has worked with WWF, Lego and National Geographic, among others.

Please bring your own sketchbook and pencils to this event.