Hay Festival Global has today announced the full programme for its ninth edition in Querétaro, Mexico, offering a world of different ideas, 5–8 September.
Discover more and book events now here.
Launching the best new fiction and non-fiction, while engaging with the world’s biggest challenges, the programme crosses borders with Nobel laureates, award-winning writers and journalists, global policy makers and innovators in conversations and activities.
More than 150 artists from 22 countries feature in the programme, including Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist Kailash Satyarthi; writers Leila Guerriero, Najwan Darwish, Javier Moro, Rebecca Solnit, Neige Sinno, Raúl Zurita, Alberto Fuguet, Silvia Vásquez Lavado, Antony Passeron, Petina Gappah, Glen Matlock, Amalia Andrade, César Rendueles, Emiliano Monge, Julieta Fierro, Luis Felipe Fabre, and Myriam Moscona; Radiohead musician Colin Greenwood; and more.
Major Hay Festival Global projects, including the South to South conversations, Lviv BookForum collaboration and Eccles Institute partnerships, feature across the programme, forging essential global connections across borders.
Outreach and education programmes across the region, including Hay Festival Joven for young people and Hay Festival Communitario in communities, will continue to open access to Festival inspiration more widely, while some sessions will be broadcast live online, maintaining Hay Festival Global’s commitment to digital accessibility.
Querétaro itself offers a majestic backdrop for events as the World Heritage City hosts sessions all over the city’s cultural venues and universities. And for the first year, in collaboration with Harmony and Inclusion, Hay Festival Querétaro will offer interpretation in sign language in three activities.
Hay Festival Global CEO Julie Finch said:
“At a time of change across the world, artists, thinkers and dreamers convene with audiences across Mexico this September with a programme of Hay Festival Global events to offer a jolt of inspiration and hope. This year’s events in Querétaro are open to everyone and we look forward to presenting a world of different perspectives.”
Hay Festival Global international director Cristina Fuentes La Roche said:
“With great writers, award-winning world changers, and an engaged and active audience, Hay Festival Querétaro 2024 is ready to tackle the biggest questions of our times while offering audiences a chance to get creative and dream. We are grateful to the artists, partners and supports who make this happen and look forward to seeing you all soon.”
The programme in detail
Activism leads this year’s programme as Nobel Peace Prize-winner Kailash Satyarthi explores how his work as an activist in his country has contributed to improving significantly the lives of children who are victims of exploitation.
Great literature is showcased as renowned writers share new work, including Javier Moro, Mohamed El Morabet, Núria Pérez, Olivia Teroba, Montse Bizarro, Leila Guerriero, Alberto Fuguet, Jay Sandoval, Tere Alcántara, Sara Barquinero, Myriam Moscona, Neige Sinno, Patrick Autréaux, Anthony Passeron, Petina Gappah, Antonio Ortuño, Ana Sofía González, Isabel Zapata, Imanol Martínez, Socorro Venegas, Rosa Beltrán, Sara Uribe, Emiliano Monge and Brenda Lozano, plus indigenous artists Baruc Martínez Díaz, Javier Eduardo Ramírez López, and Josefa Sánchez Contreras.
World-famous musicians share insights into their craft in conversations with Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood, Sex Pistol’s Glen Matlock, and singer Lila Downs, plus pianist Marcela Roggeri and the Querétaro Symphony Orchestra perform.
Rhythm and wordplay weave their way across the Festival stages in events featuring poets Raúl Zurita, Najwan Darwish, Najwan Darwish, Luis Felipe Fabre, Garry Gottfriedson, Paola Llamas Dinero, Myriam Moscona and Martín Tonalmeyotl, plus a special tribute to David Huerta.
Latest thinking in science and healthcare is platformed in conversations with neurosurgeon Henry Marsh, biologist Andrés Cota Hiriart, astronomer Julieta Fierro, journalist Angela Saini, and philosopher Naief Yehya.
Democracy and current affairs comes under the spotlight in debates with writers and thinkers César Rendueles, Rebecca Solnit, Gabriela Warkentin, Hind Hassan, Marcela Turati, Silvia Vásquez-Lavado, and Amalia Andrade.
Thirty years of the Zapatista movement is explored in conversations with journalists Guiomar Rovira, Rosaluz Pérez Espinosa, Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil and Kevyn Simón Delgado, plus the Festival’s South to South series continues, highlighting themes of resistance, identity and new narratives with writers Nimmi Gowrinathan, Petina Gappah, Garry Gottfriedson, Josefa Sánchez and Mikel Ruiz.
Great filmmakers enjoy the Festival spotlight as Ukrainian producer Vasilisa Stepanenko presents her Oscar-winning documentary 20 Days in Mariupol, plus conversations and screenings featuring Valentina Oropeza, José María Rodero, Alberto Ortega, Brenda Vanegas, and Rita Patiño.