Families

Zeb Soanes

Peter the Cat’s Little Book of Big Words

Sunday 26 May 2024, 11.30am –  Spring Stage

What’s your favourite long word? Peter the Cat, a favourite character from Zeb Soanes’ Gaspard the Fox picture book series, always has the right one for any particular situation. Bring your thinking cap to join the author and Classic FM broadcaster as he introduces his feline friend and explains some of Peter’s favourite ‘big words’.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

Rotoscope Animation Workshop

With MASH Cinema

Sunday 26 May 2024, 11.30am–1pm –  Creative Hub

Rotoscope and remix! Leave your mark – help reanimate, reimagine and remix short films with visual artists MASH Cinema. During the workshop you’ll experiment with techniques pioneered by animator Max Fleischer to produce new moving image artwork in this fun, hands-on collaborative creative project. Completed animations will be available to view online.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Make & Take Crafting

Sunday Lunchtime Session

Sunday 26 May 2024, 12pm–1.30pm –  Make & Take Hub

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

Louie Stowell

Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Ruling the World

Sunday 26 May 2024, 1pm –  Spring Stage

Are you a fan of Norse myths? Have you ever wondered what Loki, the mischievous shape-shifter and cunning trickster god would be like if they were banished to Earth in the form of an 11-year-old? Well, look no further – this is the event for you! Join author and Norse myth super fan Louie Stowell to hear all about her bestselling series Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to… Discover how to draw Loki and even create your own Norse gods in this interactive event packed full of humour and cool facts.

Please bring your own sketchbook and pencils to draw along in this event.

Rotoscope Animation Workshop

With MASH Cinema

Sunday 26 May 2024, 1.30pm–3pm –  Creative Hub

Rotoscope and remix! Leave your mark – help reanimate, reimagine and remix short films with visual artists MASH Cinema. During the workshop you’ll experiment with techniques pioneered by animator Max Fleischer to produce new moving image artwork in this fun, hands-on collaborative creative project. Completed animations will be available to view online.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Imagine… Science: Am I Made of Stardust?

Sunday 26 May 2024, 2.30pm –  Discovery Stage

Award-winning scientist and BBC broadcaster Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock returns to Hay Festival with more of her fabulous facts, mind-blowing insights and engaging explanations. Dr Maggie’s new book Am I Made of Stardust? addresses such questions as whether there are rainbows on other planets, and what dinner tastes like on the International Space Station…

In association with The Royal Society

Laura Bates

Sisters of Sword and Shadow

Sunday 26 May 2024, 2.30pm –  Spring Stage

Take a fresh look at chivalry with activist and bestselling feminist writer Laura Bates. She introduces her new YA fantasy Sisters of Sword and Shadow, a reimagining of the tales of the Arthurian Round Table through a feminist lens. Discover the Sisterhood of Silk Knights who live in a world of ancient feuds and glorious battles and who are determined to protect their community and right the wrongs of men. Laura shares her original inspiration, her action-packed research at Knight school and why she hopes this novel will energise and bring joy to feminists young and old.

Make & Take Crafting

Sunday Afternoon Session

Sunday 26 May 2024, 2.30pm–4pm –  Make & Take Hub

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

Pizza-making Workshop

Kitchen Garden Pizza

Sunday 26 May 2024, 3pm –  Family Garden

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven. And while you wait for your pizza to cook, you can decorate your own pizza box!
Dairy-free and gluten-free options available

Rotoscope Animation Workshop

With MASH Cinema

Sunday 26 May 2024, 3.30pm–5pm –  Creative Hub

Rotoscope and remix! Leave your mark – help reanimate, reimagine and remix short films with visual artists MASH Cinema. During the workshop you’ll experiment with techniques pioneered by animator Max Fleischer to produce new moving image artwork in this fun, hands-on collaborative creative project. Completed animations will be available to view online.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Alex Norris

How to Love

Sunday 26 May 2024, 4pm –  Spring Stage

Who should I love? Can I love more than one person? Is jealousy good or bad? Will I ever love again? From singlehood to happily ever after, internationally renowned comic artist Alex Norris explores nuanced ideas on love in their fresh signature style in How to Love: A Guide to Feelings & Relationships for Everyone. Alex answers these questions, shares how they create their hit comics and reveals why a bright, silly and wonderful book all about love is just the thing you’re looking for.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

Pizza-making Workshop

Kitchen Garden Pizza

Sunday 26 May 2024, 4pm –  Family Garden

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven. And while you wait for your pizza to cook, you can decorate your own pizza box!
Dairy-free and gluten-free options available

Jonny Duddle

Gigantosaurus

Monday 27 May 2024, 10am –  Meadow Stage

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of everyone’s favourite dinosaur-who-cried-wolf story, Gigantosaurus – as seen on TV! Listen to bestselling author and illustrator Jonny Duddle read the story and join in with his draw-along, creating your own dinosaurs to take home.

Please bring your own sketchbook and pencils to draw along in this event.

Abi Elphinstone

Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons

Monday 27 May 2024, 10am –  Spring Stage

Rusty Fizzbang, vet to magical beasts, needs an apprentice. Ember Spark, looking for adventure, is his newest recruit, along with an unlikely friend called Arno. But keeping magical beasts a secret isn’t an easy task, especially with arch-villain Jasper Hornswoggle hot on their heels…

Join bestselling children’s author Abi Elphinstone as she talks about her new book Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons. Abi reveals where she finds her ideas – from shower gel bottles and street signposts to adventures in the Arctic and Mongolia – as well as showing you how to plan your own stories, dream up titles and nail that opening line. An event that champions the joy of reading and writing while encouraging you to be curious, courageous and kind.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

Ready, Steady, Music! Workshop

Monday 27 May 2024, 10am –  Creative Hub

Get your Hay day off to a brilliant start with our daily Ready, Steady, Music workshops! With different activities each day, these interactive, fun-filled sessions for mini musicians will have you tapping sticks, roaring like dinosaurs, flying with unicorns, dancing with scarves, playing with parachutes and much more. Come and meet our puppets, explore our instruments and be accompanied by the beautiful sound of the cello.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Pizza-making Workshop

Kitchen Garden Pizza

Monday 27 May 2024, 10am –  Family Garden

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven. And while you wait for your pizza to cook, you can decorate your own pizza box!
Dairy-free and gluten-free options available

Stories in the Wilds Workshop

With Emma Bettridge

Monday 27 May 2024, 10am–11.30am –  Meet at Wild Garden

Come to a fun, story-generating workshop with Emma Bettridge and her dog Nell. During this inspiring outdoor session, you’ll walk to the River Wye where you’ll write, draw and record your stories, inspired by the river and its surrounding area. Emma Bettridge is a theatre producer, nature lover and children’s author whose books include Goodbye Hobbs and Red is Home.

Please come dressed for the weather. We regret that we can’t accommodate dogs at this session.

Sponsored by By the Wye

Make & Take Crafting

Monday Morning Session

Monday 27 May 2024, 10am–11.30am –  Make & Take Hub

An opportunity to get crafting! Activities differ every day, including everything from print-making to junk modelling with recycled materials, with today’s sessions focusing on rivers. Get messy and creative: your imagination is the limit.

Book for the session and you can drop in at any point during the 1.5 hour duration. Accompanying adults: please stay in attendance at all times, but you do not require a ticket.

Delivered in collaboration with The Rivers Trust and The3Engineers

Pizza-making Workshop

Kitchen Garden Pizza

Monday 27 May 2024, 11am –  Family Garden

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven. And while you wait for your pizza to cook, you can decorate your own pizza box!
Dairy-free and gluten-free options available

Michael Rosen

Poetry Morning

Monday 27 May 2024, 11.30am –  Discovery Stage

Settle in for a joyous morning of family entertainment with national treasure and former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen. He shares stories and poems from his extensive back catalogue, and introduces his latest playful tale The Incredible Adventures of Gaston le Dog. Inspired by stories Michael used to tell his son on holiday in France, this was the book he dreamed of writing while he was recovering from Covid.

This event will be available online

Ken Wilson-Max

Aqua Boy

Monday 27 May 2024, 11.30am –  Spring Stage

Island boy Aaron loves the sea. But he's a bit scared of going under the water. Then one day Aaron finds an octopus stranded on the beach. And as he helps Dad return it to the water, something amazing happens… Can Aaron lose his fear and go underwater? Maybe now he can help look after the sea creatures and be… Aqua Boy!

Award-winning author and illustrator Ken Wilson-Max (Astro Girl and Eco Girl) reads from Aqua Boy, an empowering story about looking after the ocean and its wildlife. Next he shows you how to draw an octopus yourself, and then – hold your breath! – while you complete your drawing, Ken creates a stunning live painting.

Please bring your own sketchbook and pencils to draw along in this event.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Rotoscope Animation Workshop

With MASH Cinema

Monday 27 May 2024, 11.30am–1pm –  Creative Hub

Rotoscope and remix! Leave your mark – help reanimate, reimagine and remix short films with visual artists MASH Cinema. During the workshop you’ll experiment with techniques pioneered by animator Max Fleischer to produce new moving image artwork in this fun, hands-on collaborative creative project. Completed animations will be available to view online.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Make & Take Crafting

Monday Lunchtime Session

Monday 27 May 2024, 12pm–1.30pm –  Make & Take Hub

An opportunity to get crafting! Activities differ every day, including everything from print-making to junk modelling with recycled materials, with today’s sessions focusing on rivers. Get messy and creative: your imagination is the limit.

Book for the session and you can drop in at any point during the 1.5 hour duration. Accompanying adults: please stay in attendance at all times, but you do not require a ticket.

Delivered in collaboration with The Rivers Trust and The3Engineers

Jessie Yendle

Let’s Talk

Monday 27 May 2024, 1pm –  Meadow Stage

Live your best life with empowering advice from Jessie Yendle, the beauty and self-confidence boosting influencer AKA ‘That Girl with the Stammer on TikTok’. In this empowering event for young adults, Jessie shares her experiences and how she learnt to challenge herself to ‘have a go’. She offers a safe space to help you increase your positivity, let go of the things that bother you and deal with your anxieties. Inspired by her book Let’s Talk, Jessie gives tips to boost confidence and support positive mental health – and she’ll answer your questions too.

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

There will be a BSL interpreter at this event

John Dougherty

Zooming the Zoo

Monday 27 May 2024, 1pm –  Spring Stage

Zoom in for a session of silliness, thoughtfulness, laughter and a song or two with award-winning author and poet John Dougherty as, with his brand new collection of verse, he answers questions like: Why should we feel sorry for bats? How can the dog get a turn on the chair? And why shouldn’t you hold a Zoom call with zoo animals?

Stories in the Wilds Workshop

With Emma Bettridge

Monday 27 May 2024, 1pm–2.30pm –  Meet at Wild Garden

Come to a fun, story-generating workshop with Emma Bettridge and her dog Nell. During this inspiring outdoor session, you’ll walk to the River Wye where you’ll write, draw and record your stories, inspired by the river and its surrounding area. Emma Bettridge is a theatre producer, nature lover and children’s author whose books include Goodbye Hobbs and Red is Home.

Please come dressed for the weather. We regret that we can’t accommodate dogs at this session.

Sponsored by By the Wye

Rotoscope Animation Workshop

With MASH Cinema

Monday 27 May 2024, 1.30pm–3pm –  Creative Hub

Rotoscope and remix! Leave your mark – help reanimate, reimagine and remix short films with visual artists MASH Cinema. During the workshop you’ll experiment with techniques pioneered by animator Max Fleischer to produce new moving image artwork in this fun, hands-on collaborative creative project. Completed animations will be available to view online.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England

Tim Peake

The Cosmic Diary of our Incredible Universe

Monday 27 May 2024, 2.30pm –  Discovery Stage

Tim Peake was the first British astronaut to conduct a spacewalk at the International Space Station, and an inspiration for budding young scientists and astronauts everywhere. In this out-of-this-world event, Peake talks about his first non-fiction book for children, The Cosmic Diary of Our Incredible Universe, in which readers will discover everything from how stars are made, to which fruit can create antimatter. Peake is a former Apache pilot, flight instructor, test pilot and European Space Agency astronaut whose books include his memoir Limitless, and the photography collection Hello, is this Planet Earth?

Robert Winston

The Story of Science

Monday 27 May 2024, 2.30pm –  Discovery Stage

Join renowned scientist Robert Winston to hear about The Story of Science – a journey through human history, looking at the stories behind humanity’s greatest inventions and findings. With fascinating facts, tales of innovative inventions and daring discoveries, the professor explains how accidents have led to some of the greatest findings we’ve ever seen, from the stone hand-axe to life-changing medicine. If you’re a young inventor or science enthusiast, or simply a curious mind, constantly asking ‘how’ and ‘why’ things happen, this event is for you.

Shelina Janmohamed

Story of Now: Let’s Talk about the British Empire

Monday 27 May 2024, 2.30pm –  Spring Stage

What can tea and pyjamas tell us about Britain today? Carnegie-nominated author Shelina Janmohamed steers an interactive, mind-blowing journey through the centuries and lands of the British Empire, standing in the shoes of kids just like you. Hear the voices of children of the industrial revolution, enslaved children, the Home children and even the teenage match girls who went on strike and inspired a political movement. Understanding what happened during the British Empire helps all of us to make sense of the world we live in today. Not afraid to tackle big issues like racism and inequality, Shelina will ask perhaps the most important question of all: how can you be the author of your own (British Empire) story, and could your story change the course of history?

Please bring your own notebook and pen or pencil to this event.

Make & Take Crafting

Monday Afternoon Session

Monday 27 May 2024, 2.30pm–4pm –  Make & Take Hub

An opportunity to get crafting! Activities differ every day, including everything from print-making to junk modelling with recycled materials, with today’s sessions focusing on rivers. Get messy and creative: your imagination is the limit.

Book for the session and you can drop in at any point during the 1.5 hour duration. Accompanying adults: please stay in attendance at all times, but you do not require a ticket.

Delivered in collaboration with The Rivers Trust and The3Engineers

Pizza-making Workshop

Kitchen Garden Pizza

Monday 27 May 2024, 3pm –  Family Garden

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven. And while you wait for your pizza to cook, you can decorate your own pizza box!
Dairy-free and gluten-free options available