Hay Festival 2016

Why view history through the lens of poetry? Which handful of poems best represent key elements in a nation’s past? How does one ensure a nation’s bicultural history is faithfully and effectively presented? And how can images enrich understanding? These are some of the questions considered during the course of this discussion between editor M Wynn Thomas and one of contemporary Wales’s most distinguished poets, Gwyneth Lewis. They address what poems can show us about our past that has eluded conventional history.

A new collaboration with Shakespeare’s Globe brings nine performances of Julius Caesar to a specially commissioned open-air theatre at the newly renovated Hay Castle. The travelling company of actors, will bring to life Shakespeare’s political thriller with a stripped back production made fresh for our world today.

Touring has been a longstanding tradition at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, since the tours of the Elizabethan Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Shakespeare’s versatile troupe toured frequently in the summer especially when there was a plague or political unrest. Shakespeare’s Globe has now established a world renowned reputation for highly ambitious and economical Shakespearean storytelling in the rough and ready fashion of Elizabethan times.

“We are so delighted to be able to finally come to the Hay Festival to perform against the breath-taking backdrop of Hay Castle.” – Shakespeare’s Globe

Click here to pre-book a delicious picnic box to enjoy during the performance.

Festival favourite Marcus Brigstocke is back, bringing his latest material to brighten up your Hay day. Catch his satirical humour for our troubled times here before he dashes off to his next hit show.

BBC Radio 4 has become somewhat of a second home to Brigstocke with regular appearances on I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, The Now Show and Just A Minute; and he has written and recorded three series and four specials of Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off. Most recently, he co-starred alongside Kerry Godliman in three series of The Wilsons Save The World.

You’ll also have seen him on Live At The Apollo (BBC1), Have I Got News For You (BBC1), Mock the Week (BBC2), QI (BBC2), Sorry I’ve Got No Head (BBC1), The Late Edition (BBC4) and the 11 O’Clock Show (Channel 4).

Multi-award-winning duo Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita tour the UK in 2022 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their inspiring musical collaboration which combines Wales and Senegal, harp and kora, the classical and traditional, different cultures and common humanity.

The occasion is marked by the duo’s release of their third album Echo in May 2022, the tender triumph of an extraordinary partnership, described as “one of the most popular world music acts of this decade” (Songlines), that has thrilled audiences in their thousands.

Catrin plays the harp, and Seckou the West African kora, two instruments sharing an ancient history of storytelling and courtly entertainment passed down through generations. Inspired by their own connections and roots, Catrin and Seckou create something entirely their own, presenting a unique dialogue of cultures and a musical alliance of rare empathy.


Their previous two albums, Clychau Dibon (2013) and Soar (2018), have won multiple awards and Catrin and Seckou were named Best Duo/Band at the most recent BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Their atmospheric magic crosses genre boundaries, from folk and world to classical and contemporary as their fingers flow like opposing tributaries into a single river of sound.

A Mwldan production.

Bydd y ddeuawd gwobrwyedig Catrin Finch a Seckou Keita yn teithio’r DU yn 2022 i ddathlu pen-blwydd yn ddeg oed eu cydweithrediad cerddorol ysbrydoledig sy’n cyfuno Cymru a Senegal, y delyn a'r kora, y clasurol a’r traddodiadol, diwylliannau gwahanol a dynoliaeth gyffredin.

Caiff yr achlysur ei farcio dwy rhyddhau Echo, trydydd albwm y deuawd ym mis Mai 2022, buddugoliaeth dyner partneriaeth hynod, a ddisgrifir fel “un o actau cerddoriaeth byd mwyaf poblogaidd y degawd hwn” (Songlines), sydd wedi gwefreiddio cynulleidfaoedd yn eu miloedd.

Mae Catrin yn canu’r delyn, a Seckou y kora o Orllewin Affrica, dau offeryn yn rhannu hanes hynafol o adrodd straeon ac adloniant llys a drosglwyddwyd ar hyd cenedlaethau. Wedi’u hysbrydoli gan eu cysylltiadau a’u gwreiddiau eu hunain, mae Catrin a Seckou yn creu rhywbeth sy'n gwbl bersonol iddyn nhw, gan gyflwyno deialog unigryw o ddiwylliannau a chynghrair gerddorol o empathi prin.


Mae eu dau albwm blaenorol, Clychau Dibon (2013) a Soar (2018), wedi ennill sawl gwobr a chafodd Catrin a Seckou eu henwi fel Deuawd/Band Gorau yng Ngwobrau Gwerin diweddaraf BBC Radio 2. Mae eu hud atmosfferig yn croesi ffiniau genre, o werin a byd i glasurol a chyfoes wrth i’w bysedd lifo fel llednentydd gwrthwynebol i mewn i un afon o sain.

Including new evidence from key figures, Love and Deception is the result of 20 years of research into one of the Cold War’s most mysterious episodes. It is the extraordinary story of Eleanor, an able, cultured American woman living in the espionage hot spot of 1950s Beirut and – despite herself – falling in love with the kindest, most sensitive of men, a Lebanon-based journalist with a mysterious past.

Unknown to her, the young, idealistic Kim Philby had signed up to help the Russians fight fascism in the 1930s and was to become the 20th century’s most notorious double agent. But not only did he adore and marry her – just as the British authorities were closing in on him – but their love survived the most shattering of calamities.

Drawing on some of those closest to the main players, James Hanning sheds new light on the love of Philby’s life and breaks remarkable new ground in revealing the loyalty of his Cambridge contemporaries and the failure of the British authorities to convict them. Former deputy editor of the Independent on Sunday, James Hanning is co-biographer of David Cameron and secured the exclusive collaboration of News of the World investigator Glenn Mulcaire for an exposé of the phone hacking scandal.

Come to Andrew and Rachel Giles’ farm with local vet Barney Sampson to see how their herd of dairy cows produces most of their milk from grass.  Visitors can enter the milking parlour and help to milk the cows and see the calves. Find out how their four stomachs enable them to digest grass. Samples of dairy products will be provided for tasting and a local cheese maker will explain the art and science beneath the rind.

With thanks to Andrew and Rachel Giles

A little light ridicule, mockery and fun to start the day as the satirists read the tabloids and surf the social media storms for an irreverent look at what’s tickling the nation’s fancy – and driving it to splenetic fury – today. The team are joined by TikTok comedians the Sugarcoated Sisters (Chloe Tingey and Tabby Tingey, Best Newcomer Musical Comedy Awards 2022) -- real-life siblings with over 400,000 followers online, who cover topics such as living with bipolar and diabetes, partygate, feminism and dating in their musical comedy sketches.

Sophie Hannah is author of the Poirot continuation mysteries: The Couple at the Table has everything you want in a mystery – a cryptic threat, a murder, a closed circle of suspects and an unguessable solution. SJ Parris (aka Stephanie Merritt)’s Storm is set in a beautiful French château, where long-buried secrets begin to unravel at a party… and no one is safe. Sarah Vaughan’s Reputation is a timely, thought-provoking novel about women, perception and power. The three masters of the art of crime fiction present their new thrillers.

Zillah has left behind the shadowy slums of St Giles to become the star of Stratton’s Variety Show, cast as ‘The Great Amazonia’. When a new act is introduced – a black woman with vitiligo exhibited as the ‘The Leopard Lady’ – Zillah is forced to confront the dark side of her profession. Featuring a defiant heroine and a theatrical world of fragile dreams and ruthless ambition, Dillsworth’s book shines a light on the experience of being Black and British in Victorian London through one woman’s journey to live her life on her own terms. She talks to author of The Foundling Stacey Halls.

Join the author of Walking the Old Ways of East Breconshire and the Black Mountains and two guides from Brecon Beacons National Park on a gentle walk through the beautiful surrounds of Hay-on-Wye.

Discover the joy of dancing and the importance of family, whatever your culture, ability or style with Luna, brought to life by author Joseph Coelho and illustrator Fiona Lumbers. When Luna dances, she feels like the world’s volume turns up, like all colours brighten, like sunlight sparkles behind every cloud. But when she takes her dance exam she ducks, dives, spins and... falls. Luna thinks she can’t be a real dancer now. Can Luna’s family convince her otherwise?

Join Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield, authors of The Stick Book and many other outdoor adventure favourites, for a fun interactive workshop. Try some wild activities taken from their new book to make a creative scrapbook. Cut things out, doodle, stick in natural materials. How wild can you make yours?

How best can we support children and young people with their mental health and wellbeing? Join the Strong Young Minds champions and wellbeing ambassadors for a panel discussion about ways we can provide support to our young people.

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 2.5 hour duration. An accompanying adult must attend at all times but does not require a ticket.

The actor seemed to be managing old age. She had weathered widowhood, she had energy, friends, a devoted family, a lovely home. So why, at 89, did she suddenly feel furious? Shocking diagnoses, Brexit and bereavement knocked her from every quarter. And that was before lockdown. Home alone, classified as ‘extremely vulnerable’, she finds herself yelling at the TV. But she can at least take a long look at life – her work and family, her beliefs and her future. She reflects on her life as a daughter, a sister, a mother, an actor, a friend, and looks at a world so different from that of her wartime childhood. Despite age, despite rage, she finds there are always reasons for joy.

Over the past two years, our need for nature has become clearer than ever. But we’ve learned how unequal access to it is. Key spokespeople behind the Nature is a Human Right campaign share facts and stats, discuss the socio-political influences excluding millions from green spaces, and put forward ideas for what we can do about it.

Nick Hayes is co-founder of the Right to Roam campaign and author of The Book of Trespass; Ellen Miles is founder of the Nature is a Human Right campaign and a guerrilla gardener; Louisa Adjoa Parker writes on rural racism; and Daniel Raven-Ellison founded the National Park City initiative.

In 2022, S4C – the Welsh language television channel – is 40. A discussion on the past, present and future of the channel, from the dramatic campaigns that led to its establishment to its present-day form as a multiplatform broadcaster with an international reach. In the company of S4C Chief Executive Siân Doyle, prominent figures from the worlds of broadcasting and politics trace the challenges and successes of four decades, while interrogating the role and function of a minority language broadcaster in a globalised world. Cenwyn Edwards is Former Head of Factual Programmes at HTV and Former Head of Factual and Co-Productions at S4C; Siân Gwenllian AS/MS is a Member of the Senedd and Journalist; Angharad Mair is Chair of Tinopolis Cymru. ​Chaired by Sioned Wiliam, Comedy Commissioner for Radio 4 (2015 - 2022).

Actor and award-winning writer Manjeet grew up in a house where there were no books. She was put on the ‘slow readers’ table in junior school and in secondary school was told ‘not to get her hopes up’ for her English GCSE. In this interactive workshop, Manjeet uses her own story to help liberate you from your fears around writing and open up a space for creativity, while supporting you to find your unique storytelling voice.

Award-winning poet Alex Wharton leads an event full of rhythm, rhyme and free verse as he reads from his poetry collection Daydreams and Jellybeans. Escape into beautiful daydreams but watch out for any hairy jellybeans... or mischievous hedgehogs. Follow Alex’s hints and tips to make poetry of your own.

Come and join the CLD Trust and Strong Young Minds champions and wellbeing ambassadors to hear how everyone can improve their mental health and emotional wellbeing.