Hay Festival 2024

You’ll be inspired to get growing, get cooking and get plant-powered eating in this hands-on workshop led by green-fingered duo Darryl Gadzekpo and Ella Phillips. Their passion for gardening and cooking with their children has spurred them to write From Plant to Plate, a visual feast full of all the tips you need to transform seeds into mighty fruit, vegetables, and herbs, and to cook your home-grown ingredients.

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.

Naturalist Mark Cocker has always been fascinated by swifts, and in One Midsummer’s Day he sets out to discover their essence. Migrating swifts span continents and their 12-week stopover with us is the definition of summer. These birds without borders are a metaphor to express the unity of the living planet, for no creature, least of all ourselves, can live in isolation. Fellow wildlife enthusiast Hamza Yassin’s book Be a Birder is a joyful guide for beginners. The wildlife cameraman (and Strictly 2022 winner) explains how to identify birds quickly, understand bird behaviour and choose the right equipment. Born in Sudan, living in Scotland, Yassin’s first TV appearance was as Ranger Hamza on the CBeebies show Let’s Go for a Walk and he is a presenter on BBC One series Animal Park. They talk to broadcaster and author Kate Humble.

It’s a looming apocalypse, morphing beyond all human control… or it’s the dawn of a new golden age, when our lives will dramatically improve. What’s our best hope of taming the AI tiger? Writer and comedian Timandra Harkness’ latest book is Technology is not the Problem. She presents the BBC Radio 4 series FutureProofing and How to Disagree. Mark Stevenson is a ‘Reluctant Futurist’, a strategic advisor to governments, investors, NGOs and corporates, as well as a comedy writer. His books, An Optimist’s Tour of the Future and We Do Things Differently, map out proven solutions to current dilemmas. They discuss the looming AI apocalypse with environmentalist Martin Wright.

In this demo and tasting event, the London-based chef celebrates recipes that have been passed down the generations. The daughter of Jamaican immigrants, her debut cookbook explores the connections food can foster between friends, families and strangers. Its 80 dishes include crispy saltfish fritters, slow cooked jerk pork, zingy lime and ginger cheesecake, confounding misconceptions that Caribbean food is all about intense heat, pungent smoke and a handful of familiar dishes. Mitchell takes us on a journey through the region’s myriad food cultures, emerging from the convergence of African, American, European and South Asian influences in its troubling history, its legacy transformed by the kinship of those who share food. Alongside talking about the influences in her cooking Marie will be showing us how to create creamy tomato curry, rotis and rum punch (or non alc version) and tastes of all of the recipes demonstrated will be handed out to be enjoyed together.

We live in a world where artificial intelligence is making it difficult to figure out what’s real and what’s not. Professor Michael Sandel of Harvard University – Radio 4’s ‘Public Philosopher’ – talks about the challenge the virtual world poses and asks whether we should worry about it or embrace it.

In historian and broadcaster Alice Roberts’ new children’s novel, Wolf Road, prehistoric Tuuli travels with her tribe through the seasons – making camp, hunting for food and protecting themselves against the hazards the climate throws at them. She knows there’s a bigger world out there, and when she spots a strange boy lurking outside their camp, she realises he might hold the adventure she is looking for. He is from another tribe, and as he and Tuuli strike up an unlikely friendship, they set out on a journey that will influence the rest of human history. Find out about the real anthropological discoveries that inspired this tale full of wild animals and heart-stopping danger.

Award-winning author, playwright and screenwriter Alex Wheatle’s work often explores themes of identity, race and social injustice, drawing on his own experiences as a black British man. Alex was born in Brixton, South London, in 1963. His parents were Jamaican immigrants and he grew up in a children’s home after being placed there by social services at the age of six. In 1981, Alex went to prison for his involvement in the Brixton riots: this transformational period in his life was adapted for screen in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe production. With BBC broadcaster Clive Myrie, Alex discusses his life experiences and how they have shaped his writing, including the final book in his bestselling Crongton series – In The Ends.

You’ll be inspired to get growing, get cooking and get plant-powered eating in this hands-on workshop led by green-fingered duo Darryl Gadzekpo and Ella Phillips. Their passion for gardening and cooking with their children has spurred them to write From Plant to Plate, a visual feast full of all the tips you need to transform seeds into mighty fruit, vegetables, and herbs, and to cook your home-grown ingredients.

Come for a wild swim in the Wye with adventure and wild swimming specialist Angela Jones. The author of Wild Swimming the River Wye is passionate about protecting and respecting the river, its environment and wildlife. She shows how to engage in wild swimming with love and respect, testing the water for cleanliness and observing when it’s safe, before leading a guided wild swim session. Beginners and seasoned swimmers alike will gain a wealth of knowledge, including tips on acclimation, water safety, equipment, technique, reading the river and undercurrents.

You will meet Angela on the banks of the river at By the Wye Glamping Site, HR3 5RS, located just past the main bridge into Hay on the B4351
(What3Words : lifestyle.waving.cavalier).

The session starts at 2.30pm and ends at 4.30pm at the river.

There is no parking at the site, please park in one of the designated carparks around town.

In our modern world democracy and ethics aren’t always a perfect pair. Throw in the financial markets, and societies built on supposed meritocracy and the result is rising inequality, anger and frustration. Philosopher Michael J Sandel, who teaches political philosophy at Harvard University, gives an insight into how we reconfigure our thinking and our societies. Sandel’s course ‘Justice’ was the first Harvard course to be made freely available online and on television and has been viewed by tens of millions of people. He is author of What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? and The Tyranny of Merit.

Driving with a donkey stuffed in the back seat; jackdaws pecking brains out through the roof of a confessional box; cat piss and astronauts. This is the world not as you see it, but as it is, twisted from the maverick mind of Blindboy. Stories of the strange unsettlings in the souls of men caught in between the past and the possible; stories of heart-blinding rage and disquieting compassion. The satirist and musician reaches 1.2 million monthly listeners through his show The Blindboy Podcast, which the New York Times has called “a cultural phenomenon”. His new book takes its title from a twelfth-century English manuscript, which dehumanised the people and culture of Ireland to facilitate domination.

Doctor and aid worker Lynne Jones, and lawyer and climate activist Farhana Yamin, a key architect of the Paris climate agreement, discuss the rise and methods of nonviolent action for political change. In Jones’ book Sorry for the Inconvenience but This is an Emergency she offers a ground-level account of the past five years of UK protests, exploring how and why ordinary citizens have adopted extraordinary methods to confront the climate and nature crises. As one of the world’s most accomplished movement lawyers, Yamin provides both inspiration and a compass for the way movements can use the law – and must sometimes break it – to bring about social justice. The concept of movement lawyering was first proposed by the US Center for Constitutional Rights a decade ago. She shares her expertise in an essay in the collection The Revolution Will Not Be Litigated.

Immerse yourself in the inspiring Welsh countryside with poet, playwright and rapper Ashleigh Nugent, Creative Director of RiseUp, a Manchester-based organisation that empowers individuals to better their circumstances, prospects and wellbeing. In a unique event curated by the Black British Book Festival, you’re invited to write lines that capture the essence of the natural world, inspired by your surroundings, allowing nature to infuse depth into your writing. Let Nugent’s live poetry performance transport you to new realms of imagination under the open sky of the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

In this special edition of BBC R4 podcast just One Thing, Michael Mosley speaks with Professor Tanya Byron, consultant clinical psychologist, broadcaster and author. Recorded live at Hay festival, we hear the top tips that Professor Byron swears by to improve and maintain good mental health and wellbeing. What are the best ways to improve our resilience to enable us to grow mentally stronger?

Join the award-winning and much-loved author, comedian and actor for a fun-filled event centred on his action-packed children’s books, The Boy With Wings and The Book of Legends. His latest title, Clash of the Superkids, sees the return of Tunde Wilkinson, an ordinary boy who happens also to be a winged superhero. Lenny chats to compère Mic Lord, a theatre maker, MC and recording artist, all about Tunde’s impossible mission and super powers, and reveals an extract from the book.

You’ve heard of Pandora’s box and the story of Mulan, but what about Melusine’s curse or the Wawalag Sisters’ travels? The award-winning Dr Jean Menzies, author of Greek Myths, is back with Goddesses and Heroines – a sparkling introduction to key female figures from cultures all over the world. Discover some of the lesser-known stories of legendary women from across the globe, from Japanese goddess of the dawn Ame-no-Uzume to Tuonetar, Finnish queen of the Underworld.

How do stories start? Where can we find them? And how do we know whether or not what we’ve written is even good enough? Sarah Crossan, award-winning author of The Weight of Water, Apple and Rain, will lead you in a series of poetry and prose exercises designed to build confidence and get your pen moving. This workshop is for all writers, from beginners to experienced.

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

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

Enjoy a half-hour open air performance by the Brecon-based choir, with songs inspired by the Nonsense Alphabets of Edward Lear. Lear’s alphabet verses are the perfect size and shape for rounds and ditties, and have been set to music by the choir’s leader, jazz musician Rod Paton. This fun and frolicking performance will be supported by the original improvisations of cellist Sonia Hammond and various other jazzy instruments.

As a Bolton teenager with a paper round, Clive Myrie read all the newspapers he delivered from cover to cover and dreamed of becoming a journalist. Now with a long standing career in reporting, the BBC news anchor, award-winning presenter and host of Mastermind tells how his family history has influenced his view of the world. He introduces his Windrush generation parents, a great grandfather who helped build the Panama Canal, and a great uncle who became a prominent detective in Jamaica. He reflects on how being Black has affected his perspective on issues he’s encountered in thirty years reporting on some of the biggest stories of our time.

His novel One Day (recently adapted for Netflix) was an international publishing phenomenon and the iconic love story for a generation, while Us placed him on the Man Booker Prize long list. His latest novel, You Are Here, is a love story which unfolds on a walk across the north of England. It’s the story of two lonely people, both a little lost and wary of new company. But, over many miles, as they start to talk and share stories, the possibility of a new beginning opens up before them. Witty and thoughtful as ever, David Nicholls talks to BBC broadcaster Samira Ahmed about first encounters, second chances and finding the way home.

Two professional women discuss the triple-whammy of discrimination faced by women over 50 in work: they are not male, young or linear in their career paths. As a result, they are leaving corporate life, and taking their abundant wisdom, energy and ambition with them.

Leadership coach Dr Lucy Ryan conducted a unique doctoral research project into professional women at midlife. In her book Revolting Women, she argues that assumptions about declining midlife motivation and energy are often not true for women, highlights why women walk out of corporate life and shows how businesses can retain and develop this invaluable talent pool. Dorothy Byrne, President of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge (a college for women), was previously Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4, where she produced films on rape, domestic violence, ageism at work, fertility and the effects of poverty. She is author of Trust me, I’m not a Politician.

The funniest author-illustrator, brother-sister duo is back to raise the roof with games, draw-alongs and silly stories. The bestselling creators of The Fart that Changed the World present their hilarious new adventure, The Day I Fell Down the Toilet. Find out what happens when timid Timothy Trench is plunged down a toilet into the land where jokes come from and is challenged to find the funniest joke in the land – or else… Laugh-alongs guaranteed!

Please bring your own sketchbook and pencils to draw along in this event.

An unmissable wild family gameshow with acclaimed French comedian Marcel Lucont, in which kids get to be pests, politicians and pétomanes (Google it) in order to be crowned the most awful child. See what happens when international insouciance meets infantile exuberance. A huge hit at Edinburgh Fringe and many other festivals, the award-winning comic channels his acerbic humour and quickfire wit into a series of tasks for the younger generation, which is every bit as entertaining for adults as it is for children. Très funny!

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

Academic and broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts (Channel 4’s Time Team, BBC2’s Digging for Britain) brings us face to face with individuals who lived and died between ten and five centuries ago, giving a brilliant and unexpected portrait of modern Britain. The stories she tells in Crypt are not comforting tales; there’s a focus on pathology, on disease and injury, and the experience of human suffering in the past. Most of the dead will remain anonymous but, thrillingly, she introduces an individual whose life and bones were marked by chronic debilitating disease – and whose name might just be found in history.

Delve beneath panicky headlines about China and our relationship with it in this discussion between James Curran, Kevin Rudd and Amy Hawkins. The panel discusses what a future relationship between the UK, Europe and China looks like, and the best ways in which to both push back and quietly stabilise relationships with the Asian country.

In a wide-ranging conversation with University of Oxford's Professor Sarah Hill, DJ Huw Stephens (BBC Radio 6, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru) reveals how he selected 100 Welsh records for his new book, and how these artists have influenced Wales’ culture, past and present. He analyses highlights in the careers of the most important recording artists Wales has produced, singing in English or Welsh – including Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Dafydd Iwan, Max Boyce, Manic Street Preachers, Super Furry Animals, Adwaith and Mace the Great.

Debut novelist Rose Wilding talks to author Jeanette Winterson about her multi-layered thriller. Seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room; a man’s severed head sits in the centre of the floor. Each of the women – the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him – has a very good reason to have done it, yet each swears she didn’t. In order to protect each other, they must figure out who did. Against the ticking clock of a murder investigation, each woman’s secret is brought to light as the connections between them converge to reveal a killer.

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 the economy, 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.