Hay Festival 2025 Full Programme

What do you think should lead the news, and why? Watch this live recording of The News Meeting podcast, as special guests go head-to-head with Observer journalists, battling to pitch the top story of the day. Come along, have your say and share the stories you think we should be talking about.

Giles Whittell will be sitting in the editor’s chair, and we’ll be announcing the reporters and guests who will be vying for the lead story in the lead up to the Festival.

Whittell is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Observer. Previously he was deputy editor and world affairs editor at Tortoise Media. He worked as a Times correspondent in LA, Moscow and Washington and along the way he’s written a few books including Bridge of Spies and a biography of snow.

Try out some wild, fermented natural ciders paired with one of the UK’s last true ‘farmhouse’ dairy cheeses in this exciting tasting event featuring two producers working in harmony with nature.

Lydia Crimp and Tom Tibbits of Artistraw are natural cider makers and small holders based just outside Hay-on-Wye, nestled in the wild Welsh Marches. Both passionate environmentalists, they are restoring ancient orchards and protecting old apple varieties. Their natural, unpasteurised cider contains no added sugar, water or sulphites, and is fermented spontaneously using the apples’ wild yeasts.

Appleby’s Cheese is produced at Hawkstone Abbey Farm, run on biodynamic principles with a focus on provenance and legacy. Each cloth-bound Cheshire encapsulates a moment in time – a product of the soil, grass pastures, the cows and the weather. To raw milk are added traditional cultures, rennet and salt from the Cheshire plains. These time capsules are then matured in old barns with Napoleonic timbers.

Join our celebrated pizzaioli for an entertaining, hands-on workshop that will teach you everything that you knead to know about how to make pizzas. Since nothing complements pizza quite like a perfect glass of wine, let us pair and enjoy Italian wine together with your pizza creations.

This 90-minute session includes snacks, a 12” pizza of your own creation and complementary wine throughout. Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

Deborah Frances-White grew up in a cult, so she knows the value of freedom of speech, critical thinking and the ability to disagree while really fighting for change. And so, while she knows there are conversations it’s scary to have, she also knows that it’s scarier to not have these conversations.

Put hesitation aside and let Frances-White encourage you to ask difficult questions, really listen and know when to negotiate and when to resist. A comedian best known for her hit podcast and book The Guilty Feminist, she is also creator and producer of BBC Radio 4’s GrownUpLand.

With controversial weight-loss drugs gaining public attention, Dr David A Kessler’s illumination of the body weight struggle comes at a good moment. The promise – and peril – of weight-loss drugs is writ large, but where do we go from here? We know that diets don’t work, and yet we also know that excess weight starves us of years and quality of life.

Kessler, in Diet, Drugs and Dopamine, gives us the tools to unplug the brain’s addictive wiring and change our relationship with food. He cautions that drugs, on their own, pose serious risks and are not a universal solution. But with the understanding they foster of the brain-body feedback loop comes new possibilities for our health and freedom from a lifelong struggle.

The former FDA (Food and Drug Administration) commissioner served under presidents Joe Biden, George HW Bush and Bill Clinton. His previous book is The End of Overeating. He talks to science writer and broadcaster, Vivienne Parry.

Chef, illustrator and writer Letitia Clark and food writer and broadcaster Romy Gill celebrate the versatility of colourful and aromatic ingredients in this tasting event full of enchanting flavours. Clark demonstrates some of her dishes while discussing them with Romy Gill – and you can sample them for yourself!

Clark’s For the Love of Lemons weaves history, anecdotes and stories showcasing the unrivalled ability of lemons to bring the zing. Her vibrant Italian-inspired recipes include Lemony Burrata with Spring Vegetables & Pistachio Pesto, Creamy Lemon & Mascarpone Carbonara and Lemon Tiramisu. She talks to Chef, Food Writer, Author, and Broadcaster Romy Gill.

These bright-eyed assassins of the British countryside, part of the mustelid family, lead extraordinary lives: some in total seclusion, some in large, related groups. The zoologist and the science communicator discuss these fascinating small mammals.

Dr Jenny MacPherson is principal scientist for the Vincent Wildlife Trust. She has authored a book on mustelids for the New Naturalist Library and covers the animals’ physiology, daily lives and distribution, as well as their significance in UK history and folklore. VWT’s Chief Executive, Lucy Rogers leads the VWT team and drives the development and implementation of VWT's strategy to conserve threatened mammals through evidence-led conservation work. In conversation with journalist, writer and filmmaker, Nicola Cutcher.

Delve into the world of silence as poet Gillian Clarke discusses her poems themed around the voices that are heard when we’re quiet. The Silence, Clarke’s latest collection, began during lockdown, and her poems cover topics including her mother and childhood, the Great War and its aftermaths, and the rituals which make that world come into focus.

Clarke was National Poet of Wales from 2008 until 2016, awarded the Queen’s Gold medal for Poetry in 2010 and the Wilfred Owen Award in 2012. Her work has been on the GCSE and A Level exam syllabus for over 30 years, and she performs her poetry regularly for student audiences at Poetry Live.

In the small village of Alcarràs in Catalonia, the peach farmers of the Solé family spend every summer together picking fruit from their orchard. But when new plans arise to install solar panels and cut down trees, the members of this tight-knit group suddenly face eviction – and the loss of far more than their home.

Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlinale, the sophomore film from Carla Simón (Summer 1993) is a sun-dappled, deeply moving ensemble portrait of the countryside and a community’s unbreakable bonds.

“Superb… enthralling. Proof that fiction is sometimes the most powerful way to uncover the truth” – The Telegraph

Join Yeshi Jampa and Julie Kleeman from Oxford’s Taste Tibet for a culinary tour of the Himalayas – a chance to learn about a unique cuisine and culture. In this demo event, they’ll take us on a rolling tasting journey. Enjoy a welcome drink (non-alcoholic), two courses of Tibetan food and a dessert truffle. Please let us know of any dietary requirements when booking, though please note that dairy and gluten lie at the heart of Tibetan cuisine.

A seasoned nomad who grew up on the Tibetan plateau, Yeshi helps forge a greater understanding of Tibetan culture through his food. When he was 19, he walked across the Himalayas to northern India, where he later met Julie. Together they’ve created a business and a cookbook (Taste Tibet) that connect people with the culture of Tibet through its delicious food, from hand-pulled noodles to momo dumplings.

Before comedian Chris McCausland wowed audiences on Strictly Come Dancing, he spent years honing his stand-up skills and appearing on some of the UK’s best-loved panel shows, from Have I Got News for You to The Last Leg.

And yet, he’s still often called an ‘overnight success’, despite being on the stand-up scene for years. Join McCausland for a masterclass in stand-up comedy, one that has been yonks in the making!

Mars: humanity’s next moonshot? Or massive, expensive, ethically complicated suck pile? Let’s find out!

There’s a lot to be excited about on Mars, it’s true. But Teslas in Space aside, very few talk about what it really means to build a settlement on another planet: we’re asking female astronauts to give birth and raise babies on Mars. And we don’t entirely know what’s going to happen when they do. Some fantastic and weird new scientific research is starting to shed light on that problem–mostly by hurling pregnant rodents into space!–but a lot like the knowledge gap around women’s health here on Earth, we actually aren’t sure how those intrepid space frontierswomen will fare. We do know that Mars only has 38% of Earth’s gravity. We do know that radiation is bad. And we know that the human body has long evolved to live—and make babies!—on Earth. So what might it really look like to be pregnant, give birth, and nurse babies on Mars? And how can we help these poor women?

Bohannon’s Eve: How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution was Foyle’s Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2023, and Weinersmith’s A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? won the 2024 Royal Society Science Book Prize. Join Cat and Kelly for a science comedy fashion show, where models and dancers will present new wearables on a hilarious science-focused catwalk. Each piece is designed in collaboration with Cat, Kelly, and a prominent feminist artist, using the latest cutting-edge scientific research to model what pregnant and postpartum bodies might really need to make it on Mars.

The wearables and artworks for Moms on Mars are conceived and created by a team of feminist artists and scientists including Cat, Kelly, Zach Weinersmith, Lucy McRae, Erika Moen, Jenna Woolf, Ani Liu, and Hazel Lee Santino.

Funk it up to the unique sound of North Yorkshire’s only contemporary New Orleans-inspired brass band. Their energetic and interactive performance style has wowed audiences at Glastonbury, Notting Hill Carnival and Rio de Janeiro, and their music packs a powerful punch.

From full-on party, pop, reggae, ska and funk to thrilling New Orleans jazz, these guys use their arsenal of percussion, sax, trumpets, trombones and sousaphone to really fire up the party!

“A must see genre-splitting band” – The Guardian.

At a time when we are faced with fundamental questions about the sustainability and morality of the economic system, John Cassidy adopts a bold new approach: he tells the story of capitalism through the eyes of its critics. From colonialism and the Industrial Revolution to the ecological crisis and artificial intelligence, he offers a kaleidoscopic history of global capitalism and a lively exploration of economic theories.

In conversation with Jennifer Nadel, co-founder of think tank Compassion in Politics, he looks again at familiar figures – Smith, Marx, Luxemburg, Keynes, Polanyi – but also at many less well known, such as Flora Tristan, the French proponent of a universal labour union; John Hobson, the original theorist of imperialism; and JC Kumarappa, the Indian exponent of Gandhian economics. Cassidy is a staff writer on The New Yorker and author of How Markets Fail, a Pulitzer finalist.

Take the guesswork out of great wine with Noble Rot’s Dan Keeling in this exciting tasting event. Learn from the expert as he takes us on a tour of new vineyards and the groundbreaking wine-makers of today.

Wine can be daunting without an incisive guide, but Keeling is here to share lessons from his book Who’s Afraid of Romanée-Conti? Update your wine knowledge, get new ideas about what to drink and learn all about the stories that are corked into every bottle, from the country’s most exciting wine writer and merchant.

Keeling is editor and co-founder of Noble Rot magazine, and co-owner of their three eponymous London restaurants, which have won Wine List of the Year at the World Restaurant Awards and the National Restaurant Awards an unprecedented five times. He talks to food historian and curator at the British Library, Polly Russell.

A dynamic evening of performance and poetry from three of the resident artists at the Roundhouse, one of London’s most iconic music and arts venues.

Daze Hingorani is a queer choreographer and poet, currently working as a Resident Artist at the Roundhouse and in association with Sadler’s Wells. Maureen Onwunali is a Dublin-born Nigerian published poet and a two-time national slam champion. Zakariye is a poet, playwright and filmmaker whose work often explores masculinity, faith and identity.

The Roundhouse Resident Artist programme is a year-long creative and professional development programme which supports outstanding emerging artists across a range of disciplines to build sustainable careers in the creative industries.

Father Richard Williams, organist, composer and former parish priest of St Mary’s Church in Hay, performs his stunning live accompaniment to FW Murnau’s classic, silent Dracula film Nosferatu, using the church’s outstanding Bevington organ.

Released in 1922, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror) is a German Expressionist adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, starring Max Schreck as the vampire. Unauthorised by Stoker’s heirs, the filmmakers at the time were sued over the adaptation, and a court ruling ordered all copies to be destroyed. However, with a few prints surviving, it went on to be regarded as an influential masterpiece of cinema. The film’s original music by composer Hans Erdmann was lost and never recovered.

Enter: Father Williams, bringing one of cinema’s forgotten classics to life in the atmospheric setting of St Mary’s Church. A moody evening of gothic horror to bring us into a weekend of wonders.

Join Vincent Wildlife Trust’s Conservation Team for an evening walk to look for bats and other nocturnal mammals. Bat detectors will allow us to listen out for the bats as they fly around, hunting for insects, and thermal imaging cameras will enable us to look for mammals in the dark.

The Trust’s Bat Programme Manager Daniel Hargreaves will tell us about all things bat, while Carnivore Programme Manager Dr Steve Carter will introduce the Trust’s work to conserve threatened carnivores, including pine martens, which are now returning to the Wye Valley after a hundred-year absence.