Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2024

Welcome to our 2024 Hay Festival Winter Weekend Programme.

If you are unable to attend in person, don't worry, you can buy an online pass for front row access from the comfort of your own home. You can also pre-order signed copies of the books for this year's events or visit the Winter Weekend online bookshop for unsigned copies.

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Hay Castle eventQuentin Blake Exhibition & Hay Castle Entry Ticket

Event HC1

Quentin Blake Exhibition & Hay Castle Entry Ticket

–  Hay Castle
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Legend has it that Hay Castle was built in a day by a giantess called Matilda who hurled a stone across the Wye at the end of construction. Find out about this story and more with this entry ticket that also allows you to visit the castle as many times as you like in the year afterwards. Explore Matilda’s room, the castle’s costumes and cellars, and the Richard Booth Archive, and make your way right to the top for the amazing views from the viewing platform.

This ticket also gives you entry into the Beasts, Battles & Books exhibition, a look at the work of one of Britain’s best-loved illustrators, Quentin Blake.

Price: £7.50
Hay Castle eventChampagne and Christmas Lights from the Crow's Nest

Event HC2

Champagne and Christmas Lights from the Crow's Nest

Watch the Christmas lights from the viewing platform at Hay Castle

–  Hay Castle
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Get the best view of the Christmas lights from the viewing platform at the top of Hay Castle’s historic Norman tower, and watch the switching on with castle director Tom True.

Champagne and canapés included in the ticket price

Meeting point in the Great Hall.
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Hay Castle eventDirector's Breakfast Tour of Hay Castle

Event HC3

Director's Breakfast Tour of Hay Castle

Tour and Continental Breakfast with Tom True

–  Hay Castle
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Battles, borders, books and breakfast! Come and explore Hay Castle with its director Tom True, who will give an introduction to the history and invite you to get to know some of the characters from the castle’s past. He’ll also talk about running Hay Castle for the past two years.

Continental breakfast included in the ticket price. Meeting place the Great Hall
Price: £20.00
Last few remaining tickets
Hay Castle eventQuentin Blake Exhibition & Hay Castle Entry Ticket

Event HC4

Quentin Blake Exhibition & Hay Castle Entry Ticket

–  Hay Castle
Read more

Legend has it that Hay Castle was built in a day by a giantess called Matilda who hurled a stone across the Wye at the end of construction. Find out about this story and more with this entry ticket that also allows you to visit the castle as many times as you like in the year afterwards. Explore Matilda’s room, the castle’s costumes and cellars, and the Richard Booth Archive, and make your way right to the top for the amazing views from the viewing platform.

This ticket also gives you entry into the Beasts, Battles & Books exhibition, a look at the work of one of Britain’s best-loved illustrators, Quentin Blake.

Price: £7.50
WorkshopThe Brothers McLeod Drawing Adventure

Event HC5

The Brothers McLeod Drawing Adventure

Kids Fun Packed Session with Childrens’ Authors & Illustrators Myles and Greg

–  Hay Castle - Clore Space
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Packed with drawing, comics, reading aloud in silly voices and lots of laughter, this interactive workshop gives children a chance to tap into their creativity and imagination.

Kids will get to create their own knight character before helping The Brothers McLeod write a comedy adventure.

The Brothers McLeod are author, screenwriter and voice actor Myles McLeod, and illustrator, animator and director Greg McLeod. Together they created the Knight Sir Louis series of funny books for children, the latest of which is Knight Sir Louis and the Cauldron of Chaos.

7-11 years
Price: £10.00
WorkshopThe Brothers McLeod Drawing Adventure

Event HC6

The Brothers McLeod Drawing Adventure

Kids Fun Packed Session with Childrens’ Authors & Illustrators Myles and Greg

–  Hay Castle - Clore Space
Read more

Packed with drawing, comics, reading aloud in silly voices and lots of laughter, this interactive workshop gives children a chance to tap into their creativity and imagination.

Kids will get to create their own knight character before helping The Brothers McLeod write a comedy adventure.

The Brothers McLeod are author, screenwriter and voice actor Myles McLeod, and illustrator, animator and director Greg McLeod. Together they created the Knight Sir Louis series of funny books for children, the latest of which is Knight Sir Louis and the Cauldron of Chaos.

7-11 years
Price: £10.00
WorkshopThe Brothers McLeod Drawing Adventure

Event HC7

The Brothers McLeod Drawing Adventure

Kids Fun Packed Session with Childrens’ Authors & Illustrators Myles and Greg

–  Hay Castle - Clore Space
Read more

Packed with drawing, comics, reading aloud in silly voices and lots of laughter, this interactive workshop gives children a chance to tap into their creativity and imagination.

Kids will get to create their own knight character before helping The Brothers McLeod write a comedy adventure.

The Brothers McLeod are author, screenwriter and voice actor Myles McLeod, and illustrator, animator and director Greg McLeod. Together they created the Knight Sir Louis series of funny books for children, the latest of which is Knight Sir Louis and the Cauldron of Chaos.

7-11 years
Price: £10.00
Hay Castle eventDirector's Breakfast Tour of Hay Castle

Event HC8

Director's Breakfast Tour of Hay Castle

Tour and Continental Breakfast with Tom True

–  Hay Castle
Read more
Battles, borders, books and breakfast! Come and explore Hay Castle with its director Tom True, who will give an introduction to the history and invite you to get to know some of the characters from the castle’s past. He’ll also talk about running Hay Castle for the past two years.
Continental breakfast included in the ticket price. Meeting place the Great Hall
Price: £20.00
Last few remaining tickets
Hay Castle eventQuentin Blake Exhibition & Hay Castle Entry Ticket

Event HC9

Quentin Blake Exhibition & Hay Castle Entry Ticket

–  Hay Castle
Read more

Legend has it that Hay Castle was built in a day by a giantess called Matilda who hurled a stone across the Wye at the end of construction. Find out about this story and more with this entry ticket that also allows you to visit the castle as many times as you like in the year afterwards. Explore Matilda’s room, the castle’s costumes and cellars, and the Richard Booth Archive, and make your way right to the top for the amazing views from the viewing platform.

This ticket also gives you entry into the Beasts, Battles & Books exhibition, a look at the work of one of Britain’s best-loved illustrators, Quentin Blake.

Price: £7.50
ConversationTom Bullough talks to Tom True

Event HC10

Tom Bullough talks to Tom True

Writing and Rivers: Introducing Tarddle/Source

–  Hay Castle - Clore Space
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Take a peek inside the mind of Hay Castle’s Storyteller in Residence, Tom Bullough, as he talks about his creative process and his innovative new project, Tarddle/Source. Bullough tells Hay Castle director Tom True about how life has changed since his book Sarn Helen won the 2024 Wales Book of the Year award and also introduces Tarddle/Source, an audio-visual project which follows the River Wye from the Wales-England border to its source in the Cambrian Mountains, recording the stories, hopes and concerns of the people of the Wye Valley. Bullough will screen extracts from the project and consider the role of story in addressing the climate and nature emergency.

Tarddle/Source will be hosted by Hay Castle from January 2025.

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Funded by UK Government
Powys Council
Growing Mid Wales