Hay Festival 2024

What would a sustainable economy look like? How could we live within our environmental means? Sir Dieter Helm explains what it would take to properly maintain different types of capital, why polluters would have to pay, why the current generation would have to fund the necessary maintenance of our natural assets and why we would have to save to invest. Author of Net Zero and The Carbon Crunch, Helm is Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Oxford. From 2012 to 2020 he was Independent Chair of the UK Natural Capital Committee, providing advice to the government on the sustainable use of natural capital. His latest book is Legacy: How to Build the Sustainable Economy and he is in conversation with Mark Lloyd, CEO of The Rivers Trust.

Artist and stage designer Es Devlin’s work is rooted in a lifelong practice of reading and drawing, whether she’s making fragile miniature paintings, paper cuts and small mechanical cardboard models, public sculptures and installations at Tate Modern and the V&A, or kinetic stage designs at the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre. Devlin’s book An Atlas of Es Devlin is a sculptural volume with foldouts, cut-outs and a range of paper types, mirror and translucencies. She speaks to journalist Kirsty Lang about her 30-year career.

Join Professor Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost for an illustrated talk about his new book, Fieldnotes from Celtic Palestine. He shares reflections on his field visits to Palestine over several years, including encounters such as being served tea by the daughter of a Hamas suicide bomber in the family apartment in Ramallah, and being taken to Jewish settlements regarded as illegal under international law. He explores aspects of the conflict in Palestine through the medium of art, casting a critical eye upon depictions of Gaza by the Welsh artist Osi Rhys Osmond and upon portrayals of the West Bank in the creative writing of Irish novelist Colum McCann. Chríost is Director of Postgraduate Research Studies at the School of Welsh, Cardiff University.

Girlo Wolf longs for something beyond the defunct slag heaps of post-industrial Wales and nurtures dreams of becoming a poet. But, struggling with mental health challenges and the repercussions of childhood trauma, she falls into a dark underworld of sex, drugs and alcohol. Poet and activist Gemma June Howell discusses her darkly comedic novel The Crazy Truth, which sheds light on the harsh realities of economic poverty and present-day oppression, with author Rachel Trezise. Howell is director of Women Publishing Wales/Menywod Cyhoeddi Cymru.

Bring your best ideas to this solutions-focused workshop session. Facilitated by sustainability entrepreneur Andy Middleton and joined by key speakers to be announced, we’ll look at the key issue of transport, discussing the scale of the issue and a range of solutions.

Speakers include remarkable individuals leading climate and biodiversity resilience projects, igniting hope and progress in their neighbourhoods and the wider community. We want you to share your ideas and to be inspired by those making a difference. Be part of the change in this two-hour thought laboratory.

Combative, provocative and engaging debate examining a moral issue of the day, chaired by Michael Buerk. On the panel at Hay Festival with Michael will be Ash Sarkar, senior editor at Novara Media; Giles Fraser, Anglican vicar; Inaya Folorin-Iman, journalist, commentator and TV presenter; James Orr, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Cambridge.

Only 628 people in human history have left Earth. Tim Peake traces the lives of some of these remarkable men and women, from Yuri Gagarin to Neil Armstrong, Valentina Tereshkova to Peggy Whitson. He describes the wondrous view of Earth, the surreal weightlessness, the extraordinary danger, the surprising humdrum, the unexpected humour, the psychological pressures, the physical toll, the thrill of launch and trepidation of re-entry. He also examines the surprising, shocking and often poignant stories of astronauts back on Earth, whose lives are forever changed as they readjust to terra firma. A former Apache helicopter pilot, flight instructor and test pilot, Peake was the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station. In conversation with Andy Fryers, Sustainability Director, Hay Festival Global.

Faced with family dramas, political crises and questions about the future of the monarchy in Britain and elsewhere, the new King has had no shortage of challenges to face including, most recently, his cancer diagnosis. Robert Hardman, writer and co-producer of the BBC documentary Charles III: The Coronation Year, gives his insight into the life of our current monarch, including looking at the role played by Queen Camilla and the monarchy’s role on the world stage.

Hardman has been a member of the BBC commentary team at all the major state occasions of recent times and is the author of several international bestsellers, including Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II. His latest book is Charles III.

Nigerian writer Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀’s debut novel Stay With Me was shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women’s Fiction and the Wellcome Book Prize. Discussing her latest novel A Spell of Good Things – longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize – Adébáyọ̀ shines her light on the gaping divide between the haves and the have-nots in Nigeria, and the shared humanity that lies in between. Eniola spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging, dreaming of a big future. Wuraola is a golden girl, the perfect child of a wealthy family. When sudden violence shatters a family party, Wuraola and Eniola’s lives collide.

Join Leusa Llewelyn, Artistic Director of Literature Wales, as she speaks to four of the authors shortlisted for the 2024 Wales Book of the Year Awards. The writers discuss their work and explore the wider context of literature in Wales today. Gain an introduction to some of Wales’ best writers, with the winners being announced later this summer at the Awards Ceremony on 4 July.

The Wales Book of the Year Awards are the national literary awards celebrating outstanding creative talent in Welsh and English across fiction, poetry, non-fiction, creative non-fiction and writing for children and young people. Established in the late 1960s, the awards have since 2011 been run by Literature Wales, the national charity for the development of literature.

Explore the seductive and scandalous life of Lord Byron through a performance of his extraordinary narrative poem, Don Juan. Pianist Clare Hammond and actor Tama Matheson, using music by Felix Mendelssohn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Hélène de Montgeroult, William Grant Still and Isaac Albéniz, celebrate Byron’s inimitable wit in this bicentenary year of his death.

Apparently caterpillars completely break down into goo before they become butterflies. Come and join comedian Sara Pascoe as she reconsiders and reconstructs herself after having two babies and very little sleep.

The multi-award-winning comedian, writer and actor has appeared in BBC stand up special LadsLadsLads and her own BBC2 sitcom Out of Her Mind. She hosts The Great British Sewing Bee (BBC2), Last Woman on Earth (BBC), Comedians Giving Lectures (Day) and Guessable (Comedy Central). Pascoe wrote and starred in the BBC Radio 4 series Modern Monkey and the BBC2 short Sara Pascoe vs Monogamy, inspired by her first book, Animal. Her second book, Sex Power Money, was a Sunday Times bestseller, and the accompanying podcast has garnered millions of listens and multiple award nominations.

The American novelist joins us for a conversation about the TV adaptation of his 2016 novel. He discusses the story and its re-presentation, with clips from the Paramount+ limited series starring Emmy Award-winning actor Ewan McGregor.

In A Gentleman in Moscow, a Russian aristocrat in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution finds that his gilded past places him on the wrong side of history. Spared immediate execution, he is banished by a Soviet tribunal to an attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol, threatened with death if he ever sets foot outside again. As the years pass and some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold outside the hotel’s doors, the Count’s reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. As he builds a new life within the walls of the hotel, he discovers the true value of friendship, family and love. In conversation with actor, screenwriter, producer and director, Johnny Harris who plays Osip Glebnikov in A Gentleman in Moscow.

The hit musical Hadestown has recently opened in London’s West End, after an epic journey from Canada to Broadway, winning eight Tony Awards on the way. In this special event, Hadestown creator Anaïs Mitchell and members of the UK cast introduce us to the musical and perform excerpts from the show. Mitchell shares stories about the show’s early years and answers questions about its inception and its runaway success.

Hadestown intertwines two love stories in the underworld of Greek mythology – that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone. Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and BBC Radio 2 Folk Award-winner Mitchell originated Hadestown as an indie theatre project and album. She then transformed the show into a genre-defying new musical, picking up a Tony Award for Best Musical and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. Blending modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz, it is one of the most streamed cast albums of all time.

Start your day with an hour of yoga blending movement, mantra, meditation and breathwork. The classes support detoxification and regeneration – physically, emotionally and spiritually. Our daily yoga classes are brought to you by a collective of ten highly skilled practitioners, all local to Hay-on-Wye. Each practitioner has their own style, but with all you can expect a mindful, student-focused practice with clear cueing and functional sequencing.

Whether you need grounding and recharging before a busy day at the Festival, an opportunity to stretch and move your body, or simply an hour to focus on your breathing, these classes are open and accessible to all. Practitioners will adapt to different levels of experience, providing options for deepening or softening within poses so that each student takes what they need from the practice. Beginners and experienced students are most welcome. Yoga mats are provided.

Please contact Clare Fry at hello@larchwoodstudio.com with any questions relating to these classes. As capacity is limited, we recommend booking in advance to avoid disappointment.

A fantastic opportunity to see behind the scenes of this unique and historic building. Visit at a time of your choice during Castle opening hours.

Featured in the BBC’s Digging for Britain, Snodhill Castle is the hidden gem of the Golden Valley. Explore the Norman ruins including the high keep, Royal Free Chapel and the newly-discovered ‘panic room’, and hear the story of its discovery and preservation. Guided by Tim Hoverd, Archaeological Projects Manager, Herefordshire Council.

Start your day at Hay Festival with our daily news review. Join our leading journalists and special guests as they take us behind the headlines with insider perspectives, insights and an eye on what’s next. Strong coffee recommended! Among today’s guests are American literature and culture specialist Professor Sarah Churchwell, author of The Wrath to Come, and David Runciman, professor of politics at Cambridge University and author of Political Hypocrisy and The Confidence Trap, and Lionel Shriver, renowned journalist and author of We Need to Talk about Kevin and Mania. Chaired by The Independent chief books critic Martin Chilton.

Does a wilder landscape come at the expense of food self-sufficiency? Rewilding has become immensely popular, holding out the promise of a restored, wildlife-rich landscape as well as a way to help us meet our Net Zero targets. But with the UK now producing less than two-thirds of our food needs, and only half of our fresh vegetables, can we afford to transform yet more precious acres into a cross between nature reserves and wildlife theme parks? Or are the two in fact compatible: a network of rewilded zones helping to conserve vital pollinators and soil, soak up carbon and safeguard us from floods?

Minette Batters, former president of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, the Knepp Estate’s Molly Biddell and economist Dieter Helm talk to the Director of Positive News UK Martin Wright about effective rewilding and a future strategy for food production.

Guides from the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park lead a walk through the beautiful surrounds of Hay-on-Wye. You’ll be joined by local experts who will give their insights into this treasured landscape.

Hay-on-Wye is based within 520 square miles of beautiful landscape that makes up the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. The National Park is driving change to bring about a sustainable future, meeting our needs within planetary boundaries. Their Hay Festival series of walks take you into the town’s local environment while offering the opportunity to learn more about the Park’s work and its treasured landscape.

Travel back in time to the ’90s with author, broadcaster and educator Jeffrey Boakye for Kofi’s latest music-making adventure. After discovering a pirate radio station, Kofi can’t wait to get everyone involved with Clipper FM… but what does it mean when the radio station vanishes overnight? Expect music, mischief and lots of laughs!

Which dinosaur had teeth as big as a banana? Which dinosaur weighed the same as 10,000 cats? And what could a chicken possibly be doing in the Great Big Dinosaur Show?! Join poet Simon Mole and musician Gecko for their family show full of poems, raps and songs about all your favourite prehistoric protagonists – and some you haven’t heard of yet! Come and get your groove on to some Jurassic classics.

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 will have you tapping sticks, roaring like dinosaurs, flying with unicorns, dancing with scarves, playing with parachutes and much more. Come and meet our puppets, explore our instruments and be accompanied by the beautiful sound of the cello.

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. And while you wait for your pizza to cook, you can decorate your own pizza box!
Dairy-free and gluten-free options available

An opportunity to get crafting! Activities differ every day, including everything from print-making to junk modelling with recycled materials. Get messy and creative: your imagination is the limit.

Book for the session and you can drop in at any point during the 1.5 hour duration. Accompanying adults: please stay in attendance at all times, but you do not require a ticket.

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. And while you wait for your pizza to cook, you can decorate your own pizza box!
Dairy-free and gluten-free options available

Political sketch writer John Crace returns to Hay Festival with his blisteringly hilarious tour through the whirlwind of post-Brexit Britain, from the ousting of Boris to the dawn of a new era… sort of. Another month, another prime minister – how many have we been through now? Despite all the nonsense that has spewed forth from Westminster over the past two years, Crace’s brilliantly lacerating political sketches have provided some desperately needed relief. In Depraved New World: Please Hold, the Government will be With You Shortly, he takes in everything from Partygate, BoJo’s farewell, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous reign to the psychodrama of the Tory leadership contest(s), the return of Rishi Sunak, Suella Braverman’s hokey pokey and whatever lies ahead.

The American author whose We Need to Talk About Kevin won the 2005 Orange Prize for Fiction discusses her latest novel at Hay Festival. What if calling someone stupid was illegal? In Mania, where the Mental Parity Movement has taken hold, everyone is equally clever, exams are discarded and children are expelled for saying the S-word. You don’t need a qualification to be a doctor. Best friends since adolescence, Pearson and Emory find themselves on opposing sides of this culture war. Radio personality Emory makes increasingly hard-line statements while Pearson believes the whole thing is ludicrous. As their friendship fractures, Pearson’s determination to cling onto the ‘old bigoted way of thinking’ begins to endanger her job, her safety and even her family.

Our panel assembles for a thought-provoking discussion that delves into the critical theme of preserving identity and heritage during times of war and conflict. Exploring the challenges inherent in safeguarding cultural treasures and articulating the profound importance of preserving collective history and culture, they show that community involvement and practical action are badly needed now. Nicoleta Cinpoes is Professor of Shakespeare Studies and Professor Lisa Stansbie is Pro Vice Chancellor Education, Culture and Society, both at the University of Worcester. Dr Sara Nesteruk is a filmmaker and senior lecturer in creative digital design at Manchester Metropolitan University. Philip Parr is Artistic Director of Parrabbola and Chair of the European Shakespeare Festivals Network.

TikTok creators are sharing their passion for books with millions and reshaping the publishing world in the process. Join BookTokkers Coco Hagi and Ben Mercer and TikTok's Head of Creators Jo Burford alongside National Literacy Trust 's Jason Vit and author and journalist Tom Baldwin, for a dynamic look at what’s trending and how BookTok is changing how we tell stories and engage new audiences.

Enjoy a fast-paced, funny and interactive event with Jenny Pearson, the Laugh Out Loud Book Award-winning author of The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates, The Incredible Record Smashers, Grandpa Frank’s Great Big Bucket List and The Boy Who Made Monsters. You’ll be amazed at the fascinating facts, wondrous World Records and astonishing achievements that Jenny packs into her stories. Settle in for funny videos, quick quizzes and lots of laughs.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

Journey back in time with author and poet Nikita Gill for an incredible, evocative event and discover the ancient Indian animal fables of the Panchatantra, which have been told and retold for thousands of years. You’ll meet mighty elephants and courageous mice, cunning crocodiles and clever monkeys, talkative tortoises and little lapwing birds – and each one imparts a different message that can inspire you in different ways. An event celebrating friendship, cleverness, love and wisdom.