Hay Festival 2025 Full Programme

The author of Safiyyah’s War weaves a powerful story of friendship and family set during the violence and chaos of Indian partition, as two friends desperately try to make it to the right side of the border in time.

It’s 1947 in Lahore. Jahan and Ravi spend their days racing, wrestling and teasing each other. Jahan’s dad works for the British government and the boys hear snippets about the end of the British Raj and a partition of India. Tensions are rising throughout the city and beyond. Then word comes that there are only two days until the partition. Families must flee through desperate violence – will the boys ever see each other again?

Have you ever wondered where animals live in nature? Author and illustrator Emma Carlisle will lead a gentle storytelling session based on her beautiful book A Home is a Nest, exploring homes and family in nature, from the cosiness of winter dens to the arrival of spring and bird’s first flight. She’ll show you how to draw your favourite woodland creatures, and there’ll be a chance for you to ask Emma questions and get your book signed.

Emma Carlisle is a highly acclaimed illustrator, artist and lecturer in Children’s Illustration at the University of Plymouth. Her book What Do You See When You Look at a Tree? was shortlisted for the 2022 Waterstones Children’s Prize.

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.

Return to the world of Greek myth with the ‘rock star mythologist’, as she examines the role of the goddesses. From Athene, who sprang fully formed from her father’s head, to Artemis, goddess of hunting and protector of young girls (apart from those she decides she wants as a sacrifice), through to Zeus’ long-suffering wife Hera, Haynes takes us on a rapid-fire journey through the power and might of the ancient goddesses who are as revered as their male counterparts.

Haynes is a writer and broadcaster. Her books include A Thousand Ships, which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize. She has written and presented seven series of the BBC Radio 4 show Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics.

George Alagiah was one of the BBC’s most respected journalists. As a proud immigrant, he could see the world from the perspective of the Global South. He was a regular attendee of Hay Festival, and we honour him in this memorial lecture by exploring themes that were close to his heart.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hisham Matar delves into the world of Naguib Mahfouz, the first Arab winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and one of the Arab world’s best-known writers. Matar translated and wrote the intro to Mahfouz’s I Found Myself: Last Dreams, a surreal record of his dreams in his final years after an assassination attempt led him to become a recluse.

Diana Matar, the artist whose photographs illustrate the book, shares some of the images which, alongside Hisham Matar’s translation, combine to build a lush and complex picture of Mahfouz’ subconscious.

A BBC Radio 3 lunchtime concert series marking the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth. This first of three recitals recorded for broadcast explores the music of Ravel and others. Danny Driver (piano) performs a programme including Ravel, Debussy and Fauré.

Programme:

Claude Debussy Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir

Thomas Adès Darknesse Visible

Gabriel Fauré Barcarolle No 4 in A flat

Gabriela Lena Frank Nocturnoe Nazeueño

Maurice Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit

Recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Please arrive in good time.

Renowned broadcaster and journalist Ash Bhardwaj delves into the psychology behind our desire to explore and examines what we can gain from venturing out into the world. Both a highly personal and universal book, Bhardwaj explores his Indian heritage and expounds on his struggles with grief and identity. He calls for us to embrace serendipity and the natural wonders of the world, to awaken us to our surroundings, leaving us more connected to the people and places around us.

Bhardwaj is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster who has reported from over 50 countries for BBC Radio 4, The World Service, The Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian and he appears as a travel expert on BBC One’s Morning Live and Sky News. He is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers and has judged both the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing, and the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award.

Buckle in for a mind-blowing science ride with TikTok superstar Big Manny and children’s TV presenter Maddie Moate. Big Manny reveals all about physics, from sound waves to circuits and mad magnetism to fantastic friction. Want to bend water or build an electroscope? He’s your man. Maddie Moate takes a look inside everyday objects and marvellous machines to see how they work, from microwaves to smart speakers to supermarket checkouts, and explains why roundabouts make you dizzy!

Big Manny is a science-first content creator with a master’s degree in biomedical science. He has a combined following of 2.9 million on TikTok and Instagram. His latest book is Science is Lit: Awesome Electricity and Mad Magnets.

Maddie Moate is a BAFTA-winning presenter, star of CBeebies’ Do You Know? and non-fiction children’s author. Her new book is How Does it Work? Explore Machines and Objects, from Fridges to Fire Engines!

Have you ever wondered where animals live in nature? Author and illustrator Emma Carlisle will lead a gentle storytelling session based on her beautiful book A Home is a Nest, exploring homes and family in nature, from the cosiness of winter dens to the arrival of spring and bird’s first flight. She’ll show you how to draw your favourite woodland creatures, and there’ll be a chance for you to ask Emma questions and get your book signed.

Emma Carlisle is a highly acclaimed illustrator, artist and lecturer in Children’s Illustration at the University of Plymouth. Her book What Do You See When You Look at a Tree? was shortlisted for the 2022 Waterstones Children’s Prize.

Join us for an exclusive guided tour led by one of our passionate volunteer guides during Hay Festival 2025. Our knowledgeable guides will take you on a captivating journey through the castle, revealing tales of medieval knights, royal intrigue and the castle’s remarkable restoration. As you explore the castle you’ll gain unique insights into the lives of those who once called this place home. The tour also offers breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside, providing the perfect backdrop for your visit.

Guided tours run daily at 11am and 2pm. Tour price includes entry into the Castle for a year including the current exhibition: 20th Century Welsh Artists.

Enjoy a twenty-minute open air performance between events. Singing is fun with Hay Community Choir – good for mental health, feeling you’re part of a whole. Come along and have a listen as the Choir share their joy in music.

Pulitzer Prize-winning data journalist Mona Chalabi delivers our inaugural John Caldon memorial lecture, remembering the investment banker, TV innovator and inspirational entrepreneur, who died in 2021.

Chalabi argues that journalists need to think differently about language – so that readers don’t feel hopeless in the face of wars, colonialism, the climate crisis and Nazi salutes in 2025. If we want to resist war and injustice, we need to resist the idea that resistance is futile.

From the 2003 Iraq War – when millions marched against going to war – to the invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing occupation of Palestine, we see how narratives of ‘freedom’ and ‘security’ continue to be weaponised to justify war and repression. The same playbook of media manipulation, selective outrage and suppression of dissent is at work. The sense of powerlessness many felt in 2003 persists, deepening into a broader crisis of defeatism. Maybe the issue isn’t just ‘manufacturing consent’ but rather manufacturing despair.

“I feel like there’s a leopard in my house, locked in a room. I’ve contacted the leopard authorities and they assure me they are used to dealing with leopards like this, and they have a plan for removing the leopard. It will take a while, though, and once in a while I can hear it growl. And that’s all very reassuring. Even so, several times a day I think to myself: ‘Hang on, there’s a leopard in my house.’”

One morning, while shaving, comedian Mark Steel noticed that one side of his neck seemed larger than the other. After a whistlestop tour of assorted medical professionals, a consultant delivered the ominous words that would define the next months of his life: “I’m afraid it’s not good news, Mr Steel.” And so began a journey into the heart of the NHS, as he embarked on the long and uncertain road to cancer recovery via a range of mildly tortuous and entirely miraculous treatments. What, if anything, might he learn about himself – and our capacity for coping with life when times get tough – as he becomes part of a club that one in two British people will ultimately join?

Head into the dark with Chris Chibnall and Ragnar Jónasson, as they introduce their new noir novels.

Chibnall, the creator of Broadchurch and showrunner of Doctor Who, makes his crime fiction debut with Death at the White Hart, about a detective who moves back to Dorset. There, she finds a grisly crime scene in the picturesque village of Fleetcombe. Chibnall is a Bafta, Royal Television Society, Broadcasting Press Guild and Peabody award-winning screenwriter, executive producer and playwright.

Jónasson’s The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer sees young detective Helgi investigating the case of Elín S Jónsdóttir, a bestselling crime author who has gone missing, and left no clues about her disappearance. Jónasson is the award-winning Icelandic author of the international bestselling Hulda series and the Dark Iceland series. He is also co-founder and co-chair of the literary festival Iceland Noir, held in Reykjavík.

For the second year running BBC Radio 4’s book lovers’ delight A Good Read comes to Hay Festival.

Harriett Gilbert is joined by two guests including broadcaster and comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean choosing their favourite books to discuss with each other and you the audience. Guests in the last year on the show include Irvine Welsh and Andrew O’Hagan, Rachel Parris, Elif Shafak, Ian Rankin and Amy Liptrot.

If you’re a keen detective in the making, join the award-winning comedian and meet Montgomery Bonbon, the world’s finest detective. Learn how to walk, talk and detect like a sleuth in this event for ages 7–11 – anyone over 11 should get the permission of a child before booking!

Alasdair Beckett-King studied at the London Film School, and since then he has performed critically lauded solo shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, written for BBC Radio, appeared on comedy panel shows such as Mock the Week, co-written an award-winning video game and created numerous viral sketches for social media, including an interactive whodunnit.

Where do you get started in comedy, as a writer, creator or performer? And what do you do when the industry wants you to be one thing, but your best work is spread across disciplines? Rachel Parris is a Bafta-nominated comedian and writer (The Mash Report, Live at the Apollo, Have I Got News For You) with experience of writing stand-up, radio comedy, TV satire and songs, as well as fiction and non-fiction books. She’ll discuss carving out your own unique path in a complicated and changing industry. Bring your own questions!

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.

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.