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When will it open? What’s inside? What will it look like? The MD of Hay Castle Trust will report on the restoration project, recounting the low points and highlights of the journey so far, with bats, medieval arches, roof tiles – and 90,000 metres of scaffolding thrown in for good measure. A glimpse into the inner workings of a large-scale heritage conservation project and some of the lessons learned along the way.

Booksellers and friends, courtiers and admirers remember the maverick visionary Richard Booth, King of Hay and founder of the international Book Town movement, who died this year at the age of 80. Come and celebrate the life and times of King Richard.

“Dads: we become like them or we become their opposite. If they are absent, we pour energy into that void and it takes on any old random shape, like Terminator 2. Mind you, their over-presence can also be somewhat challenging. Maybe I do overplay the ‘Dad thing’, but I saw life through a big Dad-sized lens (probably meat-coloured, given the man’s brawn and his addiction to roasted proteins). I know, I know, the self-centred me generation – but it’s my honest experience of the world.” From one of Britain’s most popular and prolific comedians comes a hilarious and deeply moving memoir of life lived under the rule of a Silverback dad...

Join our Woodland Trust tree expert, Derek Wright, on a four-mile circular walk from Hay to the motte and bailey castle on top of Mouse Castle Wood. The walk involves some strenuous uphill sections; stout shoes are required.

Based on the landmark BBC Radio 4 series and Science Museum exhibition, the curator discusses the connections between science and art, revealing a new perspective on their contribution to the world around us. Through fascinating stories that explore the sometimes unexpected relationships between famous artworks and significant scientific and technological objects – from Constable’s cloudscapes and the chemist who first measured changes in air pressure, to the introduction of photography and the representation of natural history in print – she offers a different way of seeing, studying and interpreting the world.

Join Woodland Trust expert Derek Wright, on a gentle walk around Hay town, identifying the trees growing among the houses and streets.

Max Hastings grew up embracing the story of Operation Chastise, the classic 1955 movie, and the memory of Guy Gibson, the 24-year-old wing commander who led the raid and won the VC. The historian sets the dams raid within the big picture of the bomber offensive of the Second World War, with moving portraits of the young airmen, so many of whom died: of Barnes Wallis; the monstrous Harris; and of the tragic Guy Gibson. He offers a superb narrative of the action of one of the most extraordinary episodes in British history.

Create your own decorated lantern and then take part in a procession to the switching on of the Christmas lights leaving Hay Public Library at 5.30pm and processing to the Market Square.

The 2019 Booker Prize winner discusses her joyous and brilliantly inventive polyphonic novel that explores the lives of 12 black British women of different generations.

Come and join the party as Hay welcomes everyone to the beginning of the festive season with music and food and good cheer, and the turning on of the Christmas Lights.

Song-loving cook or food-loving musician? Either way, Cerys Matthews has been experimenting with music and food ever since she can remember. From foraging and chewing on knotweed to cooking flapjacks and nettle soup as a young child, her interest in this planet's edibles has never waned. A life of touring guaranteed further culinary exploration: thousand-hole pancakes, amlou, roasted artichokes, vermouth with anchovy-filled green olives, death by chocolate, za'atar sprinkled on fresh tomatoes, hot baked soda bread, pineapple with chilli, crispy sage leaves and vegan haggis are just a few of the recipes she'll be celebrating.

Fr Richard Williams, the extraordinary gifted organist, composer and Vicar of St Mary's Church in Hay performs a stunning live accompaniment to Fritz Lang's classic 1927 film 'METROPOLIS' using the outstanding Bevington organ. This early science fiction film presents a highly stylized futuristic city where a cultured Utopian society exists above a bleak underworld populated by mistreated workers. The love interest is provided by a privileged youth who befriends a rebellious teacher putting him at odds with his authoritarian father.

DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND
There will be a second screening on Saturday night, event 30.

Since their foundation, Chainska Brassika have travelled far and wide, igniting crowds and setting countless venues a light with their fast and infectious Ska anthems. The eight-piece outfit are a truly unique and energetic squad of young South Londoners; presenting a tantalizing blend of authentic Ska rhythms, exquisite brass, and melodic vocals, making it impossible to deny your feet a chance to dance!

Chainska Brassika have performed and created in a diverse range of venues and spaces, from completing stadium tours with Madness to rubbing shoulders with Toots & the Maytals, both in the studio and at London’s famous Alexandra Palace, the World Reggae Contest Champions are duly making a name for themselves on a global level, having had the crowds rocking from Glastonbury to Notting Hill Carnival, Rototom Sunsplash European Reggae Festival in Spain to Outlook Festival in Croatia, and even the shores of Jamaica - it’s safe to say their headline tours are notorious!

Following the release of the albums “Skinna” and “Harry J Business” - the latter produced by double Grammy Award winning producer Stephen Stewart at the legendary Harry J Studios in Kingston, Jamaica - the band is armed with new material to inject yet more life into the re-emerging Ska scene. 

The Kate Greenaway Medal-winning artist revisits her masterpiece The Lost Words and discusses the new collaboration on Geiriau Diflanedig – a Welsh-language version of Robert Macfarlane’s original text with the multi-award-winning poet Mererid Hopwood. She also introduces the 'lost classic' of nature writing, The House Without Windows by Barbara Newhall Follett, a fearless odyssey into a dreamtime of wildness and enchantment. The book is gloriously illuminated by Jackie Morris's moving art; this is a work of strange power for our bewildering times. Jackie will be painting a red fox onstage. Chaired by Peter Florence.

Join Miriam from Impelo in a fun, creative dance workshop with a winter theme. Wear comfortable clothing and be prepared to dance in bare feet. Impelo is a charitable organisation that seeks to share the transformational power of dance.

Have you always wanted to sing Handel’s Messiah but thought it was too difficult? Then join in our scratch ‘Come and Sing Messiah’ project. A professional concert singer with over 20 years’ experience of working with community choirs, Fiona Evans has rearranged this iconic work to make it more accessible for amateur/timid voices. Following rehearsals today and tomorrow, there will be a public performance in the evening of Sunday 1 December. All welcome.

* £10 for Hay Community Choir members, plus cost of score if required. Normal ticket price is for two rehearsals and includes a copy of the score.

please see events 38 and 43

Join our Woodland Trust tree expert, Derek Wright, on a four-mile circular walk from Hay to the motte and bailey castle on top of Mouse Castle Wood. The walk involves some strenuous uphill sections; stout shoes are required