Hay Festival 2023

Author and journalist Ben Macintyre tells the astonishing inside story of Colditz, the forbidding Gothic castle on a hilltop in the heart of Nazi Germany where a band of British officers spent the Second World War plotting daring escapes from their German captors. With a remarkable cast of characters, Macintyre uncovers a tale of the indomitable human spirit, but also one of class conflict, homosexuality, espionage, insanity and farce. Macintyre is the author of books including A Spy Among Friends and SAS: Rogue Heroes, is a columnist and associate editor at The Times.

If you fancy giving classical music a go, start here. Linton Stephens presents a live edition of the podcast for classical newbies. In this special Hay Festival event, Linton curates a classical playlist for a guest appearing at the Festival who joins him for a fun and frank discussion about their new classical discoveries.

Guides from the Brecon Beacons National Park will lead a gentle walk through the beautiful surrounds of Hay-on-Wye, joined by the BBNP Writer in Residence Owen Thomas.

Hay-on-Wye is based within 520 square miles of beautiful landscape that makes up Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park. The National Park is driving change to bring about a sustainable future, meeting our needs within planetary boundaries. Their Hay Festival series of gentle walks will take you into the town’s local environment while offering the opportunity to learn more about the Park’s work and its treasured landscape.

Please wear appropriate footwear and outdoor gear.

Meet Cressida Cowell, creator of the How to Train Your Dragon and Wizards of Once series (and Children’s Laureate 2019–22), as she talks about inspiration, daring rescue missions, terrible beasts and robot assassins – with live drawing.

If you’re a fan of this fantastically inventive author, don’t miss this introduction to her new book Which Way to Anywhere, the first in a thrilling new series about a group of children who find the crossing points to other dimensions. Discover a family with a magical secret; a child with a powerful gift and a story that is out of this world…

Get involved in this engaging, hands-on workshop with professional film-makers and content producers, and ensure that your unique BookFlicks recommendations reach the widest audiences. BookFlicks is a youth-led project where you can create micro-short films about the books you love and share widely across social media. Bring your favourite book to showcase or be inspired by the Hay Festival Bookshop!

If possible, bring a smart phone and download CapCut (a free video editing app) to edit your BookFlicks film. If you don’t have access to a smartphone, we have a limited number that you can use. And don’t forget to bring your imagination!

Rural Media is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation comprising the award-winning Rural Media Charity and its trading arm production house, Rural Studios. Founded in 1992, the organisation works locally and nationally using film, media and digital arts to educate, influence change and celebrate rural life.

Please note: During the workshop, you’ll be encouraged to explore the Hay Festival site to capture the content you need for your book recommendation, before coming back to the workshop to edit the footage together. By choosing to book onto the BookFlicks Workshop, you are agreeing to this, on behalf of yourself or a person in your care.

Come and join Rooted Forest School for outdoor family sessions inspired by the Forest School approach. We’ll use foraged materials to craft natural items that you can take away with you, taking part in some simple tool use and finishing off with a hot apple juice around the fire. These sessions are aimed at families and will run whatever the weather, so make sure you’re wrapped up for the conditions.

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. Accompanying adults: please stay in attendance at all times, but you do not require a ticket.

Enjoy this half-hour open air performance between events. Formed from a group of community choirs spanning the Midlands, Got 2 Sing Choir perform contemporary, uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies, with plenty of fun and laughter. The choir want to share their passion of singing with everyone – if you’re interested in joining, visit got2sing.co.uk.

No other writer is more suited to chronicling the absurd times in which we live. In What Just Happened?! Marina Hyde slashes her way through the hellscape of post-referendum politics, where the chaos never stops.

Clamber aboard as we relive every inspirational moment of magic, from David Cameron to Theresa May to Boris Johnson. Marvel at the sights, from Trumpian WTF-ery to celebrity twattery. And boggle at the cast of characters: Hollywood sex offenders, populists, sporting heroes (and villains), dastardly dukes, media barons, movie stars, reality TV monsters, billionaires, police officers, various princes and princesses, wicked advisers, philanthropists, fauxlanthropists, telly chefs, and (naturally) Gwyneth Paltrow. It's the full state banquet of crazy - and you're most cordially invited.

Drawn from her spectacularly funny Guardian columns, What Just Happened?! is a welcome blast of humour and sanity in a world where reality has become stranger than fiction. Hyde talks to editor of Prospect magazine, Alan Rusbridger.

Feeling bone-tired, anxious and overwhelmed by the rolling news cycle and the pandemic age, the author and podcaster seeks to unravel the threads of a life wound too tightly. Katherine May explores the restorative properties of the natural world and begins to rekindle her sense of wonder in the hopes of finding a way to live that means she’s more connected, rested and at ease, even as seismic changes unfold on the planet. With travel writer Dan Richards (Holloway), May discusses finding nourishment and a more hopeful relationship to the world around her.

At any given moment, research is being carried out in labs across the world, and while some of it is obviously ground-breaking, other investigations might seem like they have no use in today’s society. Gianluca Bianchi, researcher at Cardiff University, explains why research itself is a worthwhile pursuit, looking at research ideas which seem obscure and useless but are in fact significant. Among the studies he’ll look at is an investigation into mini black hole explosions, which incredibly led to the creation of Wi-Fi.

Bobby Friction is the most listened to specialist music show on the Asian Network. Bobby and his musical guests explore writing for fans in Britain and Asia.

Travel through the natural world with amazing animals on epic adventures accompanied by wildlife expert and BBC Radio 4 World on the Move presenter Philippa Forrester.

Discover the wondrous journeys that animals make every day, no matter how big or small, and why they make them. From the record-breaking flight of the Arctic tern that travel from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back every year, to the plankton that rise and descend enormous distances from the ocean depths to the surface from night to day, and the fascinating migration of two grey wolves that take remarkably similar journeys despite being in different parts of the world, you’ll be awed by these surprising stories of migration in the animal kingdom.

An expert on natural history and author of On the Trail of Wolves, The River and The Halcyon River Diaries, Forrester is a presenter on the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World, Robot Wars and CBBC.

Come and join Rooted Forest School for outdoor family sessions inspired by the Forest School approach. We’ll use foraged materials to craft natural items that you can take away with you, taking part in some simple tool use and finishing off with a hot apple juice around the fire. These sessions are aimed at families and will run whatever the weather, so make sure you’re wrapped up for the conditions.

Enjoy this half-hour open air performance between events. Formed from a group of community choirs spanning the Midlands, Got 2 Sing Choir perform contemporary, uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies, with plenty of fun and laughter. The choir want to share their passion of singing with everyone – if you’re interested in joining, visit got2sing.co.uk.

Queen of baking Mary Berry returns with her definitive baking collection in Mary Berry’s Baking Bible. The baker and television host presents her most mouth-watering bakes, including classic foolproof recipes as well as new creations. Join her in conversation with Gaby Huddart, editor-in-chief of Good Housekeeping, for a delicious discussion about all things baking, as well as a glimpse into her long-running and varied career, from training at the Cordon Bleu to publishing cookbooks and presenting Great British Bake Off. Plus, Berry shares tips on how to create the perfect baked goods every time. Cake, unfortunately, not included.

Brenda Navarro and Kevin Jared Hosein discuss their books, literature, class inequality and other issues that articulate their stories as part of our International Equity Series. Navarro’s Empty Houses is set in Mexico City and unfolds in the aftermath of a child’s disappearance, and examines the desires, regrets and social pressures of motherhood. Hosein’s Hungry Ghosts is a novel about two families, one living in a luxury unrecognisable to the other, who reside in the shadow of their farm. It is a book about violence, religion, family and class, rooted in the wild and pastoral landscape of colonial central Trinidad. They speak to Thea Lenarduzzi, TLS writer and author of Dandelions.

BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Kaylee Golding takes over the BBC’s Festival Marquee.

Violinists Madeleine Mitchell and Gordon Mackay and pianist Nigel Clayton play a programme of highly engaging British music from the early 20th to the 21st centuries. Included are a selection of the wonderful violin duos of Bartok. Full details at haymusic.org.