Hay Festival Presenta 2024

Come on a walk through the beautiful surrounds of Hay-on-Wye, led by guides from the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. The National Park is also home to a UNESCO geopark, and on the walk the Park’s Geopark Officer Alan Bowring will offer a journey through deep time, exploring the geology of the hills.

Hay-on-Wye is located within 520 square miles of beautiful countryside that makes up the Bannau Brycheiniog 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 walks take you into the town’s local environment while offering the opportunity to learn more about the Park’s work.

Freedom is one of the leading values of our society. But with freedom comes responsibility, which is a much more contested principle. Deciding where responsibility lies, and what it means to take it, is the job of the courts. It is also debated in Parliament and in the media. It is often at issue on the psychotherapist’s couch. For BBC Radio 4’s arts and ideas discussion programme, Shahidha Bari gathers a panel of experts who deal with the concept of responsibility in very different contexts, including Baroness Hale, who served as the most senior judge in the UK, and philosopher Simon Critchley.

It’s hard to be resilient in our ever-changing world. From dealing with the aftermath of lockdowns to navigating the online environment, life seems more complicated than ever. But Dr Hannah Critchlow is here to show us how we can stay on top of these changes, develop stronger resilience and switch our mindset from can don’t to can do.

Drawing on her new book Brainwave, the internationally acclaimed neuroscientist gives positive and practical guidance on improving our concentration and developing our decision-making. With a sound understanding of children’s behaviours and emotions, she’ll lead us from easily distracted to fully focused.

In this laugh-out-loud session with energetic live illustration, author Anders Sparring and illustrator Per Gustavsson join us – all the way from Sweden – to show you how to craft a hilariously gripping heist story.

Their popular book series The Pinchers features a proud family of villains, going back three generations. Son Theo loves his family, but he just doesn’t fit in; he can’t lie or cheat to save his life! Anders and Per bring to life their tale about one very law-abiding child born to a family of robbers, combining adventure, silliness and the familiar day-to-day of family life with hilarious results.

Do you want to try writing your own detective story? Have you got some ideas but no idea where to start? A good mystery is filled with questions… At this writing workshop with author Jenny Valentine, you can start developing your own thriller. An experienced writing tutor and mentor, she can help you form your plot and develop your characters. Embrace the unexpected and learn how a story leaves its own clues along the way. This is a creative session, with a chance to share your secrets at the end.

Jenny Valentine is an award-winning writer whose novels include Finding Violet Park, the Carnegie-shortlisted Fire Colour One, and Us in the Before and After.

Please bring your own notebook and pen to this event.

An opportunity to get crafting! Activities differ every day, including everything from print-making to junk modelling with recycled materials. Get messy and creative in these interactive sessions delivered by artists and discover that your imagination is the only 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.

Step inside Hay Castle – a border stronghold shaped by myth, power and reinvention. Visit the current BorderLands exhibition delivered in partnership with Meadow Arts, and enjoy full access to the castle, from cellar to rooftop. Explore rooms layered with stories, including Matilda’s room, the Richard Booth space, historic costumes and the castle cellar.

Experience the new, interactive exhibit on the second floor, then climb to the viewing platform for wide views across the Wye Valley. Your ticket also includes unlimited return visits for a full year, so you can come back as the seasons – and the castle – change.

This ticket allows you to visit the castle at a time of your choice on the day selected, and also gives you entry into the Meadow Arts BorderLands exhibition.

Step inside Hay Castle during Hay Festival 2026 and explore a place shaped by power, survival and reinvention. Led by an expert volunteer guide, this tour traces 800 years of life inside the castle – from medieval plots and royal whispers to its rescue, restoration and reimagining as a place for ideas today. You’ll move through rooms, stairways and towers, hearing stories of the people who lived, schemed, dreamed and partied here. Along the way, take in sweeping views across the Wye Valley – a reminder that this is a border castle, built to watch and be watched.

Guided tours run daily at 11am and 2pm. Tour price includes entry into the Castle for a year including the current exhibition: BorderLands.

Back by popular demand, best-selling author Ben Macintyre brings a fascinating exploration of international espionage to Hay Festival. Macintyre has spent his career chronicling secret intelligence and the hidden lives of some of history’s most intriguing figures. He profiles the small and select list of world-changing spies: Oleg Gordievsky, Kim Philby, the Bletchley Park Code Breakers. And he reveals the important and far-reaching impact when espionage works (and when it doesn’t). A real treat for Macintyre’s existing fans, as well as anyone intrigued by the hidden forces and extraordinary people who’ve secretly shaped world events.

Take a seat with the nation’s favourite therapist as she discusses her fiction debut with lifestyle journalist Gaby Huddart. In Shrink Solves Crime a body washes up near Beachy Head, and while the police chalk it up to suicide, local psychotherapist Patricia Philipps – whose patient is the victim – isn’t convinced. With her chaotic best friend Pritchard in tow, Patricia swaps the therapy room for the crime scene to catch a killer hiding in plain sight.

Perry speaks about creating a fictional therapist and the influences she’s taken from her own work and life. She is an artist and psychotherapist as well as a TV and radio presenter. Her best-selling non-fiction books include The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read.

What would your World Record be, and how would you go about setting it? Find out all about the challenge of record-breaking, and discover what incredible looks like in 2026, in this fascinating deep dive into the Guinness Book of Records.

Join Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday as he brings the book to life, with the help of special guests – some actual record holders! Expect an action-packed, involving hour full of jaw-dropping records, remarkable feats and fun facts for the whole family, as you learn how record breaking has changed over the years. There’ll also be an exciting opportunity to take part, and set a Guinness World Records title! Please bring a book, which we’ll use to set a new record and then donate to Oxfam afterwards.

Can you solve the mystery? Join our storyteller in a gentle Mr Men Little Miss quest. An interactive event complete with live music, sensory participation, action and movement – and classic characters from the much-loved Mr Men and Little Miss universe. All mini-sleuths are cordially invited to get involved in this mystery – there’ll be solving, singing and storytelling. Can you solve the puzzle?

An opportunity to get crafting! Activities differ every day, including everything from print-making to junk modelling with recycled materials. Get messy and creative in these interactive sessions delivered by artists and discover that your imagination is the only 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.

Wonderland has come to a standstill! When Tick the clock is knocked over, time freezes, leaving everything paused. Now, the two culprits must set off on a magical quest to find the key that will wind Tick up again. Along the way, familiar faces and new friends join the adventure, bringing fun rhymes, lively music and enchanting physical theatre.

Performed by degree students from the School of Performance at Hereford College of Arts, this playful, family-friendly show invites everyone to sing, laugh and move along. Can you help restore the rhythm of Wonderland so Tick can tock again?

Who rebuilt the world, raising order from the ashes of the Second World War? Award-winning historian James Holland shares his extensive knowledge of the war and its aftermath, offering unique insight into the leaders, the philosophies and the policies that kickstarted unprecedented European growth and heralded peace and economic stability.

Through the economic and political earthquakes of the mid-twentieth century, Holland brings to life a broad sweep of history, linking to important lessons for the shifting world order we’re now experiencing.

An absolutely unmissable event with the queen of crime fiction. Val McDermid joins author Fflur Dafydd to introduce her latest book Silent Bones – a tense, multi-layered thriller. It’s the latest in McDermid’s popular Karen Pirie series, and navigates themes of corruption, privilege and hidden networks of the rich and powerful. A truly thrilling opportunity to hear from the iconic author herself about how she comes up with storylines, crime scenes and compelling characters... as well as the books she likes to read in her spare time. An absolute must for crime fiction super-fans.

Take a peep beyond the popcorn in this conversation exploring the crossover between food and film. Notebook – MUBI’s biannual print magazine exploring the art and culture of cinema – presents a reading and conversation drawn from its essays and contributions. The latest issue features work by director George Miller, film critic Wesley Morris, novelist Esther Kinsky, and poet Eileen Myles.

A BBC Radio 3 lunchtime concert series exploring the music of Edvard Grieg and others. This second of three recitals recorded for broadcast features Alexander Ullman (piano), who performs a programme including Grieg and Wagner.

Programme:

Edvard Grieg, trans. Alexander Ullman Peer Gynt Suite No 1, Op 46

Edvard Grieg Lyric Pieces Book 10, Op 71

Richard Wagner, trans. Franz Liszt Tannhäuser Overture, S. 442

BBC Radio 4’s flagship literary programme, Take Four Books, speaks to an author about their latest novel and explores its connections to three other works. It’s a show about influences, inspiration and more broadly the joy of reading. Presented by the writer James Crawford the programme, which launched in November 2024, has featured some of the world’s biggest authors, as well as interesting debuts. Please join for what promises to be a fascinating conversation with the Irish writer Liz Nugent about her new novel The Truth About Ruby Cooper.

Join the BBC’s Dr Punam Krishan for an action-packed family session all about ailments, treatments and medical methods. Using inspiring examples from her books You and Your Body and The Superhero’s First Aid Manual, Dr Punam will explore what it’s like to be a real-life doctor. She’ll share life-saving tips, stay-calm tricks, and you’ll be able to test your skills in a medical quiz!

Jack Thorne is a ​groundbreaking playwright and BAFTA-winning screenwriter. His work is widely acclaimed and includes stage plays Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and The Motive and the Cue, television series Adolescence, His Dark Materials and This is England ’86/’88/’90, and films The Swimmers, The Aeronauts and Wonder. Jack will draw on his extensive experience to offer invaluable insights and advice on writing for stage and screen. He talks to BBC broadcaster Kirsty Lang.

This event is one of a Hay Festival series of sessions delivered by inspiring producers and practitioners from the creative industries, giving their insights, experience and advice on progression in their field.

Do you want to try writing your own detective story? Have you got some ideas but no idea where to start? A good mystery is filled with questions… At this writing workshop with author Jenny Valentine, you can start developing your own thriller. An experienced writing tutor and mentor, she can help you form your plot and develop your characters. Embrace the unexpected and learn how a story leaves its own clues along the way. This is a creative session, with a chance to share your secrets at the end.

Jenny Valentine is an award-winning writer whose novels include Finding Violet Park, the Carnegie-shortlisted Fire Colour One, and Us in the Before and After.

Please bring your own notebook and pen to this event.

Come on a walk through the beautiful surrounds of Hay-on-Wye, led by guides from the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. The National Park is also home to a UNESCO geopark, and on the walk the Park’s Geopark Officer Alan Bowring will offer a journey through deep time, exploring the geology of the hills.

Hay-on-Wye is located within 520 square miles of beautiful countryside that makes up the Bannau Brycheiniog 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 walks take you into the town’s local environment while offering the opportunity to learn more about the Park’s work.

Step inside Hay Castle during Hay Festival 2026 and explore a place shaped by power, survival and reinvention. Led by an expert volunteer guide, this tour traces 800 years of life inside the castle – from medieval plots and royal whispers to its rescue, restoration and reimagining as a place for ideas today. You’ll move through rooms, stairways and towers, hearing stories of the people who lived, schemed, dreamed and partied here. Along the way, take in sweeping views across the Wye Valley – a reminder that this is a border castle, built to watch and be watched.

Guided tours run daily at 11am and 2pm. Tour price includes entry into the Castle for a year including the current exhibition: BorderLands.

Crime titles dominate the best-seller lists. Crime dramas fill our screens. And the biggest TV show of the year has us all rooting for deceit, deception and dastardly duplicity against the honesty of the faithful. We bring together a round table of our own to analyse the irresistible pull of the villain and what makes a good liar – with sports presenter Clare Balding, broadcaster David Olusoga and crime author Harriet Tyce talking to psychologist Philippa Perry.

What makes us who we are today? Science professors Turi King and Adam Rutherford discuss the fascinating world of DNA and genes with best-selling science writer Professor Dan Davis. The pair share true stories from history, show us how we’re all interconnected, and illuminate who we are and how we came to be.

King’s The Secrets of our DNA: How Genetics has Changed the World is a myth-busting book that examines the world of modern genetics and reveals how DNA is essential to everything from solving crime to keeping food safe and protecting threatened wildlife. King is a scientist, presenter and author who led the genetic analysis for the identification of King Richard III.

Rutherford’s A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived at 10 Years is a look at what our genes now tell us about human history, and what history can now tell us about our genes. Rutherford is a professor of genetics and biosciences, and an author and broadcaster.

Experience evocative storytelling that bridges page and screen, in this screening of BAFTA-nominated actor John Hannah’s narration of John Buchan’s First World War classic.

Hannah gives a thrilling reading performance, bringing to life the threat of murder, conspiracy and espionage that are the thrilling themes of Buchan’s gripping adventure novel set in London and Scotland against the backdrop of war.

The Read is a series of outstanding performance readings of iconic British novels. Each episode offers a richly immersive celebration of literature.

Sort your clues from your red herrings! Holly Jackson discusses her breakout YA mystery novel, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, adapted into an acclaimed six-part television series for BBC/Netflix, with writer and podcaster Andrew Hunter Murray.

A compelling murder mystery, the novel features a likeable teenage sleuth out to crack a cold case as part of her homework assignment. The twists, shocks and red herrings are many, but never allowed to overshadow the core relationships. Holly will discuss adapting the story into six episodes – the series won praise for its fast pacing and for honouring the source material – and how the characters of Pip and Ravi were brought to life by stars Emma Myers and Zain Iqbal. A second series, focusing on the next book Good Girl, Bad Blood, is scheduled for late 2025, co-written by Holly herself.

The name’s Mayhem… The author of My Brother is a Superhero unsheaths his new hilarious, action-packed adventure in this fast-paced event. Fans of spy thrills and spills will love Spyglass, and David will introduce us to Adam and his friends, who, when they accidentally reveal the secret location of an ex-spy, trigger a supervillain to turn up on their doorstep.

Contending with a dastardly plot, an evil doctor and a full complement of henchmen, it’s going to take Adam buckets of bravery, a truckload of gadgets and a lot of luck to defeat the bad guys and stop them from taking over the world.

David’s debut bestseller My Brother is a Superhero won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year.

An opportunity to get crafting! Activities differ every day, including everything from print-making to junk modelling with recycled materials. Get messy and creative in these interactive sessions delivered by artists and discover that your imagination is the only 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.

A tantalising opportunity to hear from a writer at the top of his game. Jack Thorne won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for writing Netflix’s global hit, Adolescence, and changed the national conversation about social media and toxic masculinity in the process. His work across TV, film and the stage – most recently Lord of the Flies for the BBC – is bold, brilliant and fearless. Hear first-hand from a writer shaping the stories of our time, in conversation with ITV News presenter Julie Etchingham.

The former president of the Supreme Court provides an extraordinary everyday guide to the law. Baroness Hale wants to demystify the legal system. Talking to broadcaster Paddy O’Connell, she takes us into the complexities of real courts and real decisions, using true stories to explain how the law represents all our rights.

Baroness Hale was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court and is the author of the acclaimed memoir Spider Woman. She came to public prominence when she delivered the Supreme Court verdict that ruled Boris Johnson’s advice to the Queen that parliament should be suspended at the height of the Brexit crisis was unlawful.

Discover the hidden world of queer history and the forgotten queer heroes whose legacy lives on with our panel of experts. In this conversation with Sacha Coward, writers Emily Garside and Jason Okundaye discuss the stories they have uncovered in the course of their writing, the importance of queer history to our cultural landscape, and the people they wish everyone knew about.

Garside’s Rainbow Wales: Queer Icons Past and Present is an exploration of the household names and hidden icons who have shaped their fields and driven forward queer representation in Wales. Okundaye’s Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain looks at an elder generation of Black gay men, as he seeks to reconcile the Black and gay narratives of Britain. Coward’s Queer as Folklore: The Hidden Queer History of Myths and Monsters travels across centuries and continents to investigate the queer history of different mythic and folkloric characters.

Radically reimagining the nature-or-nurture novel, director Lynne Ramsay – and star Tilda Swinton – transform the text of Lionel Shriver’s polarising book into a chilling film rightfully venerated for its unforgettable visual language.

Eva puts her ambitions and career aside to give birth to Kevin. The relationship between mother and son is difficult from the very first years. When he does something irrational and unforgivable in the eyes of the community, Eva grapples with her own feelings of grief and responsibility.

Ride a rollercoaster of twists and turns, encountering secrets, lies, murder and money, in this discussion about The Heirs, an utterly addictive murder mystery.

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is author of the award-winning YA novel Ace of Spades, an unputdownable high-octane thriller which takes a powerful look at institutionalised racism. Ace of Spades won the Books Are My Bag Reader’s Award for Young Adult Fiction, was a Carnegie Medal nominee, and a shortlisted British Book of the Year.

Faridah will talk to Louie Stowell, author of the Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good series, about her journey as a writer, and the themes and characters within her novels, including the Button heirs, the five genius children of infamous (and now murdered) billionaire Leontes Button, adopted and trained under the ‘Button Method’ so that they’ve had no choice but to be brilliant.

Be in the audience for BBC Radio Wales' religious affairs programme, All Things Considered, tackling the thornier issues of the day in a thought-provoking manner.

Free speech, protest and the law: where are the limits? Only at Hay Festival, join a compelling panel exploring the boundaries of protest, free speech and the right to assemble. From environmental activists like Just Stop Oil, who faced lengthy jail terms, to Gaza protesters whose cases were overturned after the High Court ruled the proscription of Palestine Action unlawful, this is a debate at the cutting edge of law, politics and civil liberties.

Our Chair, Alex Goodman KC, is a human rights barrister who has acted in leading cases on environmental and Gaza protests. He will be joined by Sir Max Hill KCB KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions (2018–2023), and Asad Rehman, Chair of Friends of the Earth, as they interrogate the legal, ethical and societal limits of activism. An essential Hay Festival event for anyone interested in the future of protest and the law.

It’s likely that at some point today, you spoke to a machine that used Artificial Intelligence, a technology that is reshaping society faster than any other in modern history.

In this timely event Jamie Bartlett, one of the UK’s leading technology writers and thinkers, discusses this new world with the Observer’s technology reporter Patricia Clarke, deepening our understanding of how AI systems work, how to make the most of them, and what the dangers of them might be for us now and in the future.

Bartlett’s previous books include The Dark Net and The People vs Tech, which was longlisted for the 2019 Orwell Prize for Political Writing.

Dive into Glasgow in the 1970s, as Frances Crawford introduces her debut novel. Speaking to legendary crime writer Val McDermid, Crawford talks about graduating aged 60 with a degree in creative writing, getting her big break later in life, and the journey of her book.

A Bad, Bad Place follows 12-year-old Janey, who finds a murdered woman on an abandoned railway, and her grandmother Maggie, trying to protect her from the local hardman, whose daughter is the murder victim.

Crawford won Bloody Scotland/Glencairn Crime Short Story Competition and the first chapters of A Bad, Bad Place were Highly Commended by the Moniack Mohr Emerging Writer Awards 2024.

Gary Raymond previews the best of the Welsh contemporary arts scene.

Have we relied too heavily on the US to protect us? How much of a threat do Russia and China pose to UK security? In a changing world, have we left ourselves exposed? The BBC’s Europe editor, Katya Adler, talks to former national security adviser and Britain’s former ambassador to Washington Lord Darroch, the Guardian’s foreign correspondent Luke Harding, and author and director of the European Council on Foreign Relations Mark Leonard.

Two authors: licensed to thrill. Bond fans Vaseem Khan and Kim Sherwood discuss their reimaginings of the world of James Bond, bringing new and old characters to life. Both authors are working on books from the James Bond universe, at the invitation of the Ian Fleming Estate. They talk to Ava Glass, spy fiction writer and former investigative journalist.

Khan’s Quantum of Menace follows Q as he returns to his sleepy hometown. As he begins investigating the death of his childhood friend, a renowned quantum computer scientist, he soon finds danger closing in. Sherwood’s Hurricane Room is the latest in a series of Double O novels she is writing. When Agent 003 finds James Bond in Russia after years of searching, she just needs to get him out. But a mistrustful Bond only wants revenge on the head of a terrorist organisation with links to his past.

The question ‘are you really the doctor?’ is one Matt Hutchinson has heard too many times. Claiming it as the title for his new book, the comedian, writer and doctor shares his experiences as a Black British doctor on the frontline of the NHS. In this frank and humorous conversation with scientist Adam Rutherford, you’ll hear more about the reality of working in healthcare as a member of an ethnic minority.

Hutchinson recounts his journey from medical school through to some of the UK’s most chaotic hospitals, highlighting both his personal experiences and the unique challenges that non-white patients face in our healthcare system. Learn about the key issues facing the NHS while celebrating the immigrant healthcare workers who are its true backbone.

Get to know the floating city through the wine, cocktails and stories that spill from Venice’s most vibrant neighbourhoods. This talk and tasting will give you a whole new history of the iconic destination. Over the last 1,600 years, the city of Venice has perfected the art of living well – and Susan L Schwartz has discovered the drinks that sustain this status.

Schwartz offers a flavour from her stunning new book A Guide to Drinking in Venice, demonstrating a cocktail or two. She reveals the famous bar that birthed the Bellini, the wines imported by the city’s many merchants, and the coffee houses, pubs and places that add to the city’s intoxicating charm. Sit back, take a sip and imagine you’re floating through the waterways of Venice – all from the Hay Festival fields.

A screening of Park Chan Wook’s adaptation of Donald E Westlake’s 1997 horror thriller The Ax. The South Korean director brings his at times brutal black humour to this story about how modernisation dehumanises and destroys people.

When a happy family man is dismissed after 25 years of loyal service at a paper company, he finds the perfect solution to land his next role: truly eliminate the competition.

Three brilliant speakers, all with something completely different to say. Enjoy the range and variety of Hay Festival packaged into one entertaining session. This evening mathematician Marcus du Sautoy will debate how maths shapes our creativity, geneticist Adam Rutherford will prove that everyone in the audience is of royal descent, and author Sophia Smith Galer talks about how to kill a language. Chaired by former BBC and Sky News correspondent Robert Nisbet.

In his biggest live tour to date, leading political comedian Matt Forde (The Royal Variety Performance, Spitting Image, Have I Got News For You, British Scandal) finds positivity in life despite all the evidence to the contrary in politics and his own health.

“The most topically incisive impersonator on the block... It’s laugh-a-minute stuff” – Telegraph.

Spies are glamorous, dangerous, heroic and utterly compelling – and the perfect subject for the books we devour, in both fiction and non-fiction. Step inside Hay Festival’s first ever Salon to celebrate our inaugural Crime Day, where our panel of spy writers discuss the incredible stories they’ve uncovered in their work. They swap tales of secret worlds and hidden influence, and of people whose courage and ingenuity quietly shaped history. And they compare the real-life agents with the beloved spies of fiction who fill our bookshelves.

Gordon Corera has been the BBC’s security correspondent for two decades, and now co-presents the podcast The Rest is Classified. His latest book The Spy in the Archive tells the story of a KGB archivist turned traitor. Charlie English is a former head of international news at the Guardian, and author of The CIA Book Club, the story of how 10 million books were smuggled across the Iron Curtain during the cold war. Daria Santini’s book A Woman Named Edith is a major new biography of the photographer and Soviet agent who recruited Kim Philby. They talk to Ava Glass, the UK’s leading female spy fiction writer and a former investigative journalist.