IN A NUTSHELL: WHO TO LOOK OUT FOR AND WHAT TO DO ON THE HAY FESTIVAL 2024 SITE AT DAIRY MEADOWS
THERE will be more than 600 in-person events over the festival’s 11 days which start later this month.
As part of this spring event’s 37th edition, headline artists include authors Amor Towles, Ayòbámi Adébáyò, Colm Tóibín, Cressida Cowell, David Mitchell, Je Kinney, Jhumpa Lahiri, David Nicholls, Elif Shafak, Holly Jackson, Alex Wharton, Jacqueline Wilson, Sunjeev Sahota, Manon Ste an Ros, Marian Keyes, Michael Morpurgo and Oliver Je ers; historians Alice Roberts, Greg Jenner and Tom Holland; politicians Theresa May, Andy Burnham, Julia Gillard and Rory Stewart; musicians Bonnie Tyler, Charlotte Church, Geri Halliwell-horner, James Blunt, Jools Holland, Robert Macfarlane and Johnny Flynn; journalists James O’brien, Caitlin Moran and Elizabeth Day; footballer and broadcaster Gary Lineker; actors Dame Judi Dench, Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Fry, Sir Lenny Henry and Toby Jones; artist Es Devlin; poets Hanan Issa, Simon Armitage, Jackie Kay, Lemn Sissay, Hollie Mcnish, Michael Rosen and Joseph Coelho; comedians Jon Richardson, Nish Kumar, Julian Clary, Ruby Wax and Sara Pascoe; and Nobel Prize-winning activist Maria Ressa.
Events begin with the free schools programme, May 23-24, and including events for families throughout.
New projects woven across the festival include The Platform for new creatives, the daily News Review o ering analysis of the latest events, the rst-ever Hay Festival Sports Day, and Hay Festival Green, prompting innovative solutions to the climate crisis.
Late nights at the festival are given over to music, comedy and entertainment, while free pop-up activities and performances around the site keep audience entertained between sessions.
Events will take place across eight stages in the redesigned free-to-enter festival site at Dairy Meadows – which also o ers a range of spaces for audiences to explore and enjoy, including the bookshop, wild garden, Make & Take Tent, a host of exhibitors and market stalls, cafes and restaurants, and the new Family Garden where young readers can kick-start their creative journeys – as well as in and around Hay-on-wye, including performances all week at St Mary’s
Church.