Big names and top minds poised to enrich your life
Julie Finch, CEO of the Hay Festival, reveals this year’s inspirational line-up for the highlight of the literary world’s calendar
IT’S here! At noon today we launch the full programme for Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye this spring, May 23 – June 2, inviting audiences to join us for a world of different perspectives.
In a big year for democracy, when at least 64 countries hold their elections, we present a festival to bring people together, respectfully exploring different perspectives and the power of storytelling to unite us.
Everyone is welcome. And this year’s line-up – full of depth and breadth – offers something for all ages:
We celebrate great new books from the leading writers of our time with global stars like Amor Towles, David Nicolls, Ayobámi Adébáyo, Elif Shafak, Marian Keyes, Jeff Kinney and Jacqueline Wilson, alongside Welsh favourites Ken Follett, Manon Steffan Ros, Hanan Issa and Alex Wharton.
We will have the soon-to-beannounced winners of the Welsh Book of the Year, Dylan Thomas Prize and International Booker Prize, plus our Debut Discoveries series showcases emerging writers each day.
The world around us takes focus in debate and discussion with former PM Theresa May; journalists James O’Brien, Caitlin Moran and Carole Cadwalladr; Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa; former Australian PM Julia Gillard; historians Alice Roberts, Greg Jenner and Tom Holland; and many more.
In this Olympic year, we hold our first-ever Hay Festival Sports Day.
On stage we will explore the relationship between art and sport in conversations with festival first-timer Gary Lineker, London 2012 organiser Lord Sebastian Coe, tennis favourite Judy Murray, and many more, while off stage we give the whole festival village over to workshops and activities run by sporting associations across Wales.
There’s plenty of fun to be had late at night too as leading performers share stories, music and comedy. We’ll have Shakespeare from Dame Judi Dench; Greek myths with Stephen Fry; wordplay with Susie Dent; live sets from The Fontanas, Jools Holland and Jasmine Jethwa; standup from Sara Pascoe and Nish Kumar; and entertaining conversations with Bonnie Tyler, Charlotte Church, Geri Halliwell-Horner, James Blunt, Miriam Margolyes, Lenny Henry, and many more.
Inclusive collaborations broaden our audiences as Adult Learning Wales, Black British Book Festival, Pen to Print, The Queen’s Reading Room and The Family Place make this one of the most accessible festival editions yet, while partnerships with some of Wales’ best-known cultural institutions – Welsh National Opera, BBC Wales, Aberystwyth University, Swansea University, Cardiff University and Literature Wales’
Welsh Book of the Year – bring new thinking to the fore.
And for the first time, young creatives can curate our festival stages via The Platform, an open call for submissions for artists aged 22-28, live online now. We cannot wait to see what our community of creative talent comes up with.
Beyond the programme, our freeto-enter festival village has had an upgrade with more spaces to spread out and enjoy the festival atmosphere.
Between events, in the canteen or garden spaces, the fun continues as ideas grow and great minds meet.
This year’s redesigned site at Dairy Meadows aims to make this easier than ever, with new spaces like the Family Garden, filled with free popup activities and performances to keep audiences engaged.
As a charity, our mission is to inspire and open minds. If you can’t join us in person, you can join us online with an Online Festival Pass giving you access to handpicked events streamed live across the 11 days or by watching the BBC’s free programmes, recorded live on site.
The fun isn’t limited to these 11 days, though. Increasingly, our yearround projects and events bring writers and readers together.
Tomorrow, our first-ever Hay Festival After Hours event will take place at the Wales Millenium Centre in Cardiff, with comedian Robin Morgan hosting an evening of short readings, performances, and provocations from a thrilling line-up of Welsh creatives.
Meanwhile, we recently relaunched our Book Club with monthly free online events bringing writers direct into your home – next week, we’ll be live online with novelist Rachel Trezise.
And why does it all matter?
Just last week, I celebrated World Book Day with pupils and teachers at Gwernyfed High School, where I was honoured to officially open their new library and donate a stack of new books to help fill the shelves.
Pupils spoke movingly of what books meant to them and how proud they were of the new space that was all theirs to enjoy.
It was a timely reminder of how access to books and spaces where they can be read for pleasure is essential for promoting wellbeing, empathy and fulfilment in the next generation.
And at a time of global upheaval and change, Hay Festival can offer you that space too – a break from the day-to-day where you can talk, think and dream with us.
See you there.
■ Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye 2024 takes place Thursday, May 23 – Sunday, June 2. The full programme goes live online at noon today with public booking open this Friday at hayfestival.org/hayon-wye.