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Nick Clegg talks to Decca Aitkenhead
How to Save the Internet
– Castle Marquee
As both a former British deputy prime minister and president of global affairs at Meta, Sir Nick Clegg has the authority and expertise to understand the ever-uncertain world we’re rapidly heading towards: online and offline.
In his book How to Save the Internet, Clegg looks at what is happening to the internet as democracies seek to rein in the power of Big Tech, and the most powerful tool ever created for bringing the world together risks being dismantled.
Clegg speaks to acclaimed journalist and broadcaster Decca Aitkenhead about the relationship between governments and big technology. With behind-the-scenes insights at Number 10 and at Meta, Clegg offers up a clear understanding of our online future, from why we need to keep the internet’s openness and whether Big Tech can be reformed, to how to stop AI and political conflict from stymying progress. Join us for this unmissable conversation as we open Winter Weekend 2025.
Price: £16.00
Booking fees are calculated at 5% per order, with a minimum charge of £3.50 and capped at a maximum of £10.
Imagining the future of Hay Festival Global, CEO Julie Finch leads an open forum to kick off Friday’s events.
A registered charity, Hay Festival Global convenes diverse voices from the worlds of art, literature, science, humanities, politics, music and comedy to listen, talk, debate and create, tackling some of the biggest political, social and environmental challenges of our time.
Share your ideas, ask your burning questions and get an early preview of the new initiatives coming up at Hay Festival in this special event hosted by journalist Decca Aitkenhead.
You can submit your questions in advance to questions@hayfestival.org and there will be time for follow-ups in the room over tea, coffee and cake. Let's talk, let's listen.
Free but ticketed
Price: £0.00
Booking fees are calculated at 5% per order, with a minimum charge of £3.50 and capped at a maximum of £10.
Paul Davies and Vlatko Vedral talk to Caroline Steel
The Quantum Revolution
– Castle Marquee
We’re on the brink of a revolution in quantum theory, one that could see the stuff of science fiction become the reality of our future.
Join US academic Paul Davies and Oxford don Vlatko Vedral for an entertaining and awe-inspiring journey through the past, present and future of quantum mechanics and physics, and learn how it could impact every aspect of our lives.
In Quantum 2.0, renowned scientist and author Davies – who has an asteroid named after him – tells the gripping story of how a radical new theory of nature, which became known as quantum mechanics, burst upon the modern world, and how today we are on the cusp of the second great quantum technology revolution. Quantum 2.0 takes readers from basic concepts to the cutting edge, which includes new tools such as quantum computers, quantum cryptography and the quantum internet. Davies is a regents' professor of physics and director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University.
Vedral’s Portals to a New Reality argues that we’re on the brink of a new reality in science, explaining how quantum information theory has led to a series of extraordinary and strange-sounding experiments that could upend physics, and rewrite our understanding of the universe. Vedral is a professor of physics at the University of Oxford, known for both his theoretical and experimental work on quantum information.
Both authors will be talking to the multi-award-winning science broadcaster Caroline Steel.
Price: £15.00
Booking fees are calculated at 5% per order, with a minimum charge of £3.50 and capped at a maximum of £10.
Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate’s Manosphere
– St Mary’s Church
How did little-known kickboxer and failed reality star TV Andrew Tate rapidly rise to become an icon for a generation of young men? And is there any stopping the dangerous ideology he has unleashed?
Award-winning documentary maker Jamie Tahsin, who has been investigating Tate since 2019, leads us backstage at Tate’s world, sharing insights gained through spending time with the man himself.
From going behind-the-scenes at his Bucharest compound to breaking down how Tate – who is facing criminal charges in countries including the UK – weaponises marketing techniques to spread the message of his “manosphere”, a world that centres men, misogyny and masculinity, Tahsin exposes Tate’s dark secrets and the machine that made him.
Tahsin speaks to Ben Mercer, an expert on sport, social media and masculinity.
Price: £16.00
Last few remaining tickets
Booking fees are calculated at 5% per order, with a minimum charge of £3.50 and capped at a maximum of £10.
There’s a word for just about everything, and Susie Dent is here to enlighten you on a host of new (and old) vocabulary.
The lexicographer speaks to Gary Raymond about her new book Words for Life, in which she shares the definition and history of a word for each day of the year.
You’ll go away knowing the word for someone who loves to read in bed (useful for all Hay Festival attendees, we suspect) and the strange history of the word arse, plus expand your vocabulary to words you didn’t know you needed.
Dent is Queen of Dictionary Corner on Channel 4’s Countdown, and hosts TV and radio shows.
Raymond is a novelist, critic, editor and broadcaster, the presenter of The Arts Show for BBC Radio Wales and former editor of Wales Arts Review.
Price: £16.00
Last few remaining tickets
Booking fees are calculated at 5% per order, with a minimum charge of £3.50 and capped at a maximum of £10.
Teleri Glyn-Jones, Will Hayward and Ruth Mosalski talk to Rob Osborne
Could Reform Win in Wales?
– St Mary’s Church
As Wales prepares for next year’s Senedd elections, Reform is mounting a huge challenge to the established political landscape, threatening the biggest upset in Wales for a century.
Our panel of experts, who live and breathe Welsh politics, look at what lies ahead, from whether Labour can keep their 100-year winning streak going and why Reform has so much momentum to what the electoral maths means for the country’s first Plaid Cymru First Minister, and what impact the election will have on the rest of the UK.
Ruth Mosalski, the political editor of Wales Online; multi-award winning investigative journalist and Guardian columnist Will Hayward; and presenter of BBC Wales’ flagship politics TV programme, Politics Wales, Teleri Glyn-Jones, speak to Rob Osborne, award-winning journalist, presenter of Wales This Week, and National Correspondent for ITV Wales.
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MP Kim Leadbeater knows all too well how the world of politics can be rife with tension, disagreement and even violence. But she also knows better than anyone that politics is a place that demands compassion, and that all sides can operate with respect and care.
Leadbeater, who became MP for Batley and Spen a few years after her sister Jo Cox was murdered, is behind assisted dying legislation which passed the House of Commons last year.
A year on from that landmark achievement, Leadbeater talks to broadcaster and founder of the ThinkTank Compassion in Politics, Jennifer Nadel, about the state of British politics today, how laws can solve some of the difficult problems society faces, and what we can do to combat the divisive discourse the UK is currently seeing.
Price: £16.00
Last few remaining tickets
Booking fees are calculated at 5% per order, with a minimum charge of £3.50 and capped at a maximum of £10.
Poet and performer Hollie McNish assesses the power of the word 'virgin' – a six-letter word that can pressure, judge, harm, praise, profit, or punish.
With her trademark mix of humour, fury and compassion, McNish – whose videos often go viral on social media – looks at the role the word has played in her life, including how ridiculously she ate creamy mashed potato with her family after apparently ‘losing’ her virginity.
McNish is the author of Lobster and Slug, and winner of the Ted Hughes award for new work in poetry with Nobody Told Me.
At a time when poetry has never been more popular, McNish performs from Virgin about love, loss, wolves and warm morning croissants. Expect strong language and adult content!
14+ years; under 16s must be accompanied by an adult
Price: £16.00
Booking fees are calculated at 5% per order, with a minimum charge of £3.50 and capped at a maximum of £10.
Oyinkan Braithwaite, Natalie Haynes, Mick Herron and Adam Rutherford
Hay Festival Book of the Year 2025
– St Mary’s Church
A panel of literary stars take us on a lively tour of the year in books, as we get ready to crown the 2025 Hay Festival Book of the Year.
Oyinkan Braithwaite, Mick Herron, Natalie Haynes together with chair Adam Rutherford celebrate the books on the shortlist for the award. They'll discuss the books they have read, their favourite books of the year, those they raced through, the ones that languished unread, the ones they wished they had read and the ones as authors they wish they had written.
Previous winners have included Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, Inventing Ourselves by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore and The Five by Hallie Rubenhold – but who will triumph in 2025?
Prepare for a high-octane celebratory evening of all things books.
There will be a glass of wine on arrival, included in the ticket price.
Price: £15.00
Booking fees are calculated at 5% per order, with a minimum charge of £3.50 and capped at a maximum of £10.
David Olusoga, Rob Osborne, Jennifer Nadel and Hay Festival Guests
News Review of the Year
– Castle Marquee
Chew over the biggest news stories of 2025 in our review of the year, led by historian David Olusoga. David will be joined by ITV Wales Correspondent Rob Osborne, award winning journalist Jennifer Nadel and special guests, and together they will revisit the good, the bad and the I-forgot-that-happened moments of the year, and bring personal perspectives and first-hand experiences of the stories that defined 2025.
They'll dissect Trump's unique approach to foreign policy, spawning unforgettable moments including President Zelensky being thrown out of the White House for not wearing a suit, assess the prospects of a ceasefire in Ukraine and the Middle East, and pick out the moments that defined the 2025, from protests over immigration to the bin strikes in Birmingham.
But it’s not all bad news, you’ll also have the chance to relive the year's good news stories, including triumphant sporting successes from the Lionesses and Luke Littler.
Our News Review of the Year is the perfect way to begin your Sunday at the Hay Festival Winter Weekend.
Price: £16.00
Booking fees are calculated at 5% per order, with a minimum charge of £3.50 and capped at a maximum of £10.
Green Crime: Inside the Minds of the People Destroying the Planet, and How to Stop Them
– Castle Marquee
Criminal psychologist Julia Shaw investigates gangs who terrorise communities, committing horrendous environmental crimes against people and the planet.
In her book Green Crime, she looks at cases – including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Dieselgate emissions scandal, and the Shuidong wildlife crime syndicate – and reveals how, following their every move, are secret agents, vigilantes and scientists fighting to foil their criminal acts.
She talks to scientist, writer and broadcaster Adam Rutherford about who commits these crimes against the planet, and how we can better protect our natural resources.
Price: £15.00
Booking fees are calculated at 5% per order, with a minimum charge of £3.50 and capped at a maximum of £10.
