Hay Festival 2025 Full Programme

Start your day with some thoughtful, dynamic vinyasa yoga where the emphasis is on mindful alignment, focusing on each individual and your experience of a pose. Sequences encourage considered movement, using both active and passive ranges of motion to explore and enhance your strength and mobility.

Expect carefully designed flow sequences, where joints are stabilised and muscles engaged, your body moving with your breath to enhance concentration and aid meditation. Jess offers modifications and extensions to make her classes as accessible as possible, giving you the agency to choose how deep to move within your practice.

You’ll be encouraged to tune in to your body and breath, using your practice as a conduit to self-enquiry and a chance to learn what your body and mind can do, both on and off the mat. A keen practitioner of yoga for two decades, Jess has been trained by some of the most respected and experienced teachers in the world, including Adam Husler, Jason Crandell and Bridget Woods Kramer.

Open level – some experience useful but both beginners and experienced students are most welcome. Yoga mats are provided.

Please contact Clare Fry at hello@larchwoodstudio.com with any questions relating to these classes. As capacity is limited, we recommend booking in advance to avoid disappointment.

Agronomist Jonathon Harrington and vet Barney Sampson lead a tour of Trevithel Court, David and Catherine James’ traditional mixed farm with orchards supplying apples for Bulmers, Westons and other cider producers in Herefordshire and Wales. Walk among the apple trees and learn about cider production; look inside a beehive and learn how bees make honey and store it for the winter, and why they are so essential for pollination. You can sample some of the cider and honey produced on the farm. See the quality beef cattle fed with the grass and arable crops grown on the farm and the machinery used for crop production and harvesting. Trevithel Court is run by David James in partnership with his son Will James, the fourth generation of the family to farm here.

With thanks to David & Catherine James and family for welcoming us to their farm.

Start the day at Hay Festival with headline guests chaired by editors from The Independent reviewing the news, discussing the headlines and issues of the day, and revealing what’s breaking and trending online. A fascinating look at what’s tickling the nation’s fancy – and driving it to splenetic fury. Bring your coffee!

Among today’s guests are Paralympic athlete and presenter Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson; journalist and leading political commentator Ash Sarkar and psychologist and author of Too Much and Never Enough, Mary Trump.

Author James Cahill considers art, artists and selling out in this discussion with Hay Festival President Stephen Fry. Cahill’s new novel The Violet Hour follows Thomas Haller, who has achieved the kind of fame that most artists only dream of, but the vision he presents of being an untouchable genius at the top of his game is a lie.

On the eve of his latest show, the luminaries of the art world gather. But a chain of events begins that will lead the friends back into the past, to confront who they have become. The Violet Hour exposes the unsettling underbelly of the art world, asking questions about who is granted admission and who is left outside.

Cahill has worked in the art world and academia for 15 years. His debut novel, Tiepolo Blue, was shortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award.

Do you know a grubber from a yorker? Can you identify the golden rules of slip and outfield catching? How does a batter recover from the dreaded royal duck? And where on earth do players find room for all those teas?

Cricket legend and Test Match Special commentator Ebony Rainford-Brent talks to science communicator Adam Rutherford about her career, shares behind-the-scenes insight from the game, and leads a whirlwind tour of cricket.

Rainford-Brent is a cricket legend and multi-award-winning TV presenter and broadcaster. She was the first Black woman to represent England at cricket and paved the way for greater inclusivity in the game. She is a regular commentator on Test Match Special for the BBC and Sky.

English was a marginal dialect in the late ninth century, spoken by just a couple of hundred thousand. So how did it become the most common language in the world, spoken by 1.6 billion people today? Sir Rupert Gavin charts the evolution of English, and argues that it is ideal as the global language, not just by accident of history, but by fundamental construction and constitution.

Gavin has been a central figure in the UK’s cultural, historical, media and business worlds for the last 40 years. He has held senior roles at companies including British Telecom, Odeon Cinemas and Historic Royal Palaces. He is currently chairman of the English National Ballet, and the cinema chain The Living Room Cinema, and has produced or co-produced over 200 theatre shows.

Guides from the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park lead a walk through the beautiful historic environment of Hay-on-Wye.

Hay-on-Wye is located within 520 square miles of beautiful landscape 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 and its treasured landscape.

Ever wondered what donuts get up to when they’re not being eaten? No, because that would be silly! But it turns out, donuts have BIG PLANS FOR WORLD DOMINATION! Meet Sprinkles, the leader of the Squad; Jammyboi, who spreads stickiness everywhere; and Spronky, who is bizarrely unconventional. But don’t mention the arch-nemeses of the donuts… the bagels, secretly plotting Donut Squad’s doom!

Cartoonist and writer Neill is creator of the award-winning Mega Robo Bros series and How to Make Awesome Comics. Guffaws are guaranteed in this event about his super sweet and scrumptiously silly new graphic novel – perfect for lovers of Bunny vs Monkey and Dog Man.

Please bring your own sketchbook and pencils to this event.

Get your Hay day off to a brilliant start with our daily Ready, Steady, Music workshops! With different activities each day, these interactive, fun-filled sessions for mini musicians and their grown-ups will have you tapping sticks, roaring like dinosaurs, flying with unicorns, dancing with scarves, playing with parachutes and so much more. Come and meet our puppets, explore our range of instruments and listen to the beautiful sound of the cello.

Captivating young imaginations and creating lasting memories, these sessions offer a unique musical adventure. The perfect way to boost wellbeing, increase confidence, spark creativity and introduce children to the joy of music.

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.

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 for a year. Explore Matilda’s room, the castle’s costumes and cellars, and the Richard Booth Archive, and make your way right to the top for amazing views from the viewing platform.

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 20th Century Welsh Artists exhibition on the second floor.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven.

Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

Draw your sabre and take on friends and family for the Hay Festival fencing crown in this have-a-go session with Fencing Cymru/Welsh Fencing. Learn the skills of this fast-paced Olympic sport in a safe and friendly environment before stepping onto the piste – en garde!

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.

Come to the Family Garden for a pizza masterclass with Kitchen Garden Pizza. In this one-hour session your imagination and creativity will be fed along with your belly! You’ll get your hands messy with freshly grown and foraged ingredients, make and top your own dough and observe the pizzaioli at work at the wood-fired oven.

Dairy-free and gluten-free options available.

One hundred years after his birth, what is Richard Burton’s legacy? Mr Burton, the 2025 biopic starring Harry Lawtey, Toby Jones and Lesley Manville, fictionalises the early life of the beloved Welsh actor. Set in 1940s Port Talbot, the film tells the extraordinary true story of the relationship between a schoolmaster named Philip Burton and a wild young schoolboy, Richard Jenkins, who dreamed of becoming an actor. Mr Burton recognised his pupil’s raw talent, and made it his mission to fight for him, becoming his tutor, strict taskmaster and eventually his adoptive father…

The film’s director Marc Evans, producer Ed Talfan and screenwriters Tom Bullough and Josh Hyams discuss the Welsh acting Titan and the making of their production, showing clips from the film.

The bestselling authors Tracy Chevalier (Girl with a Pearl Earring) and SJ Parris (Alchemy) compare notes on writing spellbinding historical fiction.

Chevalier’s The Glassmaker is set in Venice, 1486, where Orsola Rosso flouts the convention barring women from glassmaking, to save her family from ruin. She knows her creations must be perfect to be accepted by men – but will she ever earn the respect of those closest to her? Parris’ Traitor’s Legacy takes us to England in 1598, when a young heiress is found murdered at the theatre. Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster calls upon former agent Sophia de Wolfe to investigate, but her quest soon takes her into dangerous waters.

After fifteen years at the pinnacle of test rugby, leading the most successful squad in Welsh history, Dan Biggar tells his story. In conversation with presenter and co-writer Ross Harries, Wales’ most capped fly-half offers a rare insight into his personal and professional life.

His playing style has been described as brash, aggressive and forthright, and it has earned him a reputation he has never been able to shake. But to anyone who knows him off the pitch, he is one of the most grounded ambassadors the game could ask for.

Honest and self-critical, Biggar talks candidly of his place within rugby, from the Premiership through to the Lions, and of the power dynamics within Wales’ most successful squad ever. He also opens the changing room doors and explores his relationships with past team mates, coaches and managers.

Take a deep dive into the story of information with author and illustrator Chris Haughton (A Bit Lost). His latest work is a graphic handbook to the biggest influence on human history.

Exploring the ways humans share and store information, and how this has shaped and changed the world, we travel through time from the first languages and cave paintings to how we communicate and record information today. With illustrations in his signature style, Chris shows us everything we know and how we know it!

Please bring your own sketchbook and pencils to this event.