Eat & drink at Hay Festival
Whether you fancy breakfast, lunch or dinner, a light bite, snacks, sweet treats or a three-course sit down meal, we offer a wide choice on site at Hay Festival, with exciting flavours from around the world to tickle all taste buds.
Eat well
Choose from delicious street food, snacks on the go or a sit-down meal. Our focus is on locally sourced ingredients and sustainable catering, with plenty of plant-based and gluten-free options. There are child-friendly portions and prices at all stands and in our Festival restaurant.
Enjoy a tipple
For a pint of real ale, a glass of wine, Prosecco, or a jug of Pimm’s to enjoy in the sunshine, head to the Festival Bar with its outdoor decked area to soak up some of the Festival atmosphere while you enjoy a drink. There are plenty of soft drink options too.
Caffeinate & go
Our coffee shops across the site serve delicious specialty coffees and teas as well as cold drinks and snacks.
Chapter House Café
A serene haven for reading enthusiasts and coffee aficionados, where the love of books and the joy of coffee come together. More than just a pause for a hot drink, it’s an invitation to relax, unwind and engage in stimulating conversations with friends and fellow Festival-goers.
Serving fantastic fair-trade coffee and a delectable array of cakes, pastries, sandwiches, wraps and salads. Whether you’re seeking a quiet corner to lose yourself in a novel or a lively spot to share stories with friends, you’ll find a warm welcome here.
Coaltown Coffee Van
Perfect for grabbing your coffee on the go: check out the Coaltown Coffee van on the Boardwalk. Coaltown is based in Ammanford in South West Wales, a post industrial community where Anthracite Coal (Black Gold) once fuelled the local economy. In 2003 the last of the collieries closed and with it went the town’s purpose. Coaltown’s ambition was to bring a new industry to their home, a new Black Gold, a new purpose. In 2018 they achieved just that and their town is producing again. They are a B-corp Specialty Coffee Roastery with a focus on sustainable and transparent trade with small farms from across the coffee growing regions of the world, who aim to uphold quality at every stage of production. They are driven by remaining ethical, and by their desire to roast delicious coffee that’s full of personality. coaltowncoffee.co.uk
Reusable cup system
Our reusable cups and glasses for hot and cold drinks are back this year, boosting our sustainability. We charge a £1 reusable cup fee for your first hot drink at our coffee outlets. Use and reuse your cup, then drop it in the return bins as you leave the site. We’ll clean the cups and put them back in circulation. The fee covers our hire and cleaning costs for the cups and keeps the system circular and sustainable. You’re very welcome to bring your own reusable cup to the Festival.
Cotto, Hereford – Festival restaurant
A taste of Naples in a field in Wales. Cotto are bringing their vast larder of Neapolitan cuisine from their family-run restaurant in Hereford to the Festival.
Cotto serves up tasty food to your plate, combining good, honest cooking and service with a modern, Italianate twist. The emphasis is on quality, provenance and fun. Cotto’s restaurant brings the excitement and flamboyance of Naples to the Festival with an expertly curated selection of Neopolitan classics. The menu includes antipasti and small plates, primi/large mains, dessert, drinks and sourdough pizza.
Contact Cotto to book a table in the atmospheric restaurant, online cottohereford.co.uk, by email cottoherefordhay@gmail.com or call 07954 323 145.
Shepherds Ice Cream
Irresistible ice creams, sublime sorbets and divine dairy-free desserts. Shepherds have been making artisan ice cream since 1987, using their unique recipe based on sheep’s milk and plant-based milks. Visit their stall on site, drop in to Shepherds Parlour when you’re in town, or check out the Ice Cream Shop in Abergavenny. Don’t be a lost sheep. Join the flock.
Follow them on Instagram @shepherdsicecream or visit shepherdsicecream.co.uk.
Delicious street food from...
Happy Maki
Happy Maki makes giant vegan sushi burritos, bursting with fresh fusion fillings. Rolled fresh, you can add extra ginger, wasabi and extra soy sauce, and their Hoisin duck and fully loaded burritos are famous on the festival circuit. They are two-time winners of the Best Festival Caterer Award, and for each meal they make they feed a child in need.
Kitchen Garden Pizza
The growing season allows Kitchen Garden Pizza to use the freshest garden and foraged produce to make their wood-fired pizzas, from wild garlic in the spring to fennel in the summer, and always topped with fresh rocket. Their pizzas are a local expression of an Italian classic, and they invite you to come and dig in. Kitchen Garden Pizza are also running pizza workshops for children, in which imaginations and creativity will be fed along with bellies. See the Hay Festival Families section for more details.
La Bonne Crêpe
La Bonne Crêpe, a renowned traditional French crêperie created in Bristol in 2007, feeds the carnivorous, the vegans and those with an insatiable sweet tooth from breakfast until late at night. Freshly made to order, their crêpes and galettes are filled with love and flavour, and the finest fair-trade, organic, ethical local ingredients. They offer wheat, gluten, dairy and egg-free options.
Lalita’s
Lalita’s wants to nourish people with hearty, wholesome, vegan and gluten free South Indian food. Freshly cooked every day with lots of love and care, it’s deliciously tasty. Their specialties, the Masala Dosa, Masala Vada, Idli Sambar, Onion Bhajis and Thalis are all huge hits.
Both delicious and good value, it’s the ideal festival food.
Lola’s Fish & Chips
Lola’s is all about the fish, bringing a little bit of the coast to the fields. Expect elevated fish dishes, farm shop cumberland sausage and their legendary minted mushy peas.
Mac Daddies Gourmet Mac and Cheese
Mac Daddies are the number one mac and cheese street food trader in the area. Offering the most amazing baked mac with incredible toppings such as slow cooked meats, truffle and gold! They cater for all dietary requirements and only use the finest local ingredients to create sensational dishes that make your taste buds tingle with delight. Back for their second year at Hay Festival, they can’t wait to serve their cheesy goodness to everyone. Be sure to check them out on site.
Meat & Greek
Meat & Greek is run by a South Wales-based Greek Cypriot family who are passionate about sharing their authentic Greek street food. Greeks don’t do anything by halves, especially meals, and they are proud to serve generous portions of their no frills, fresh and wholesome food. Try their Gyros – toasted pitta breads packed with grilled chicken or pork, market fresh salad, topped with a helping of creamy tzatziki or houmous and garnished with parsley and onion – delicious! If meat isn’t your thing, they have plenty of delicious options for vegetarian and vegan customers, as well as salad bowls and fries. Get stuck in – opa! Follow them @meatandgreek.
Pizzeria Molto Bene
A Gloucestershire-based independent pizzeria with a family vibe and a small team who’ve been brought together by a love of great pizza. Specialising in artisan, handcrafted pizzas from their own slow fermented 100% sourdough. A shared passion to bring their pizza to the people has led them to adopt ‘Big Henry’, their custom-built wood oven trailer.
Taste Tibet
Taste Tibet is a restaurant and food stall with an award-winning cookbook. Owners Yeshi and Julie, who met in the foothills of the Himalayas, have featured on C4’s Sunday Brunch and BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen. Come for Yeshi’s legendary momo dumplings and a wide range of Himalayan curries, with plenty of vegan and gluten-free offerings.
The Beefy Boys
The Beefy Boys started out in 2011 as four backyard amateur cooks with a huge love and passion for local produce and American style BBQ. Now they’re an award-winning restaurant chain and street food trader with locations in Hereford, Shrewsbury and Cheltenham. Everything is cooked fresh to order using the highest quality ingredients and Herefordshire beef. In 2023 The Beefy Boys won Burger of the Year, and Murf won Chef of the Year, at the National Burger Awards and in 2024 they launch their first cookbook.
The Fritter Shack
The Fritter Shack is a vegetarian food company from Wales with lots to offer, from moussaka and veggie burgers to fresh, colourful salads. Their main meal, ‘The Works’, is coconut dal
and crispy vegetable fritters with grape ruby slaw, carrot and orange with pomegranate salad and Mediterranean garden green salad, all with chilli jam.