Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2025

Kairos

Pop-up Music

Thursday 27 November 2025, 6.05pm – 6.25pm – Hay Castle – Great Hall

Join local musical duo Kairos, musicians Anna Lockett and Jill Horner, for a heartening and uplifting performance as they take over Hay Castle’s Great Hall. Expect beautiful harp, flute and recorders together with romantic, folk, baroque and contemporary musical arrangements – so make sure you don’t miss this musical interlude.

Nick Clegg talks to Decca Aitkenhead

How to Save the Internet

Thursday 27 November 2025, 6.30pm – 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.

Sponsored by Partners&

Kairos

Pop-up Music

Thursday 27 November 2025, 7.35pm – 7.55pm – Hay Castle – Great Hall

Join local musical duo Kairos, musicians Anna Lockett and Jill Horner, for a heartening and uplifting performance as they take over Hay Castle’s Great Hall. Expect beautiful harp, flute and recorders together with romantic, folk, baroque and contemporary musical arrangements – so make sure you don’t miss this musical interlude.

An Evening with Huey Morgan

The Fun Lovin' Criminal

Thursday 27 November 2025, 8pm – Castle Marquee

Kick off your Hay Festival Winter Weekend in style with an intimate night of conversation and stories under the stars with 90s rap rock legend Huey Morgan.

Grab a glass of mulled wine or a warming hot chocolate, and listen as the Fun Lovin’ Criminals’ frontman and Radio 6 Music presenter tells tales from his remarkable career.

Morgan’s memoir The Fun Lovin’ Criminal brings the grit and glamour of 1990s New York to life, as he tells the story of his ascent to stardom, the trials and triumphs of touring, and his life after leaving the Fun Lovin’ Criminals.

Morgan talks to journalist and broadcaster Nuala McGovern.

Sponsored by Tangerine Fields - Offical Hay Festival Campsite

Julie Finch talks to Decca Aitkenhead

Hay Festival Open Forum

Friday 28 November 2025, 10am – Castle Marquee

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.

Raymond Blanc talks to Kate Humble

Simply Raymond Kitchen Garden

Friday 28 November 2025, 1pm – Castle Marquee

One of the UK’s most renowned chefs and hoteliers celebrates the kitchen garden, and how it influences his recipes, the subject of his latest book Simply Raymond Kitchen Garden.

Blanc is the owner of the two Michelin starred Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, which is famous not just for its food but for its kitchen gardens, the brainchild of the chef. Blanc describes himself as being “still in awe of the magic of the garden and the miracles of the kitchen, and the wondrous connection between them”.

He speaks to Kate Humble, supporter of local artisan producers and author of Home Made: Recipes from the Countryside, about his inspiring story, the connection between his gardens and his food, and why he loves championing seasonal ingredients.

Learn from one of the best in the business against the backdrop of Hay Castle, and pose your questions to Blanc on everything from creating your own kitchen garden to how to bring a little Manoir magic to your home this festive season.

Sponsored by The Old Black Lion

Maria Alyokhina talks to Oliver Bullough

Political Girl: Life and Fate in Russia

Friday 28 November 2025, 2.30pm – Castle Marquee

When it comes to groups that can harness the power of art and culture to resist, there is one name that comes to mind: Pussy Riot.

This event is a rare chance to hear directly from the legendary Russian collective’s founder member Maria Alyokhina, who served time in a penal colony after performing the punk prayer Virgin Mary, Banish Putin with her friends at the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and eventually escaped from Russia dressed as a delivery food courier in the face of a new prison sentence. She talks to Oliver Bullough, author of the best-selling Butler to the World and award-winning investigative journalist.

Providing inspiration to a new generation of activists, Alyokhina, author of Political Girl, shares first-hand experiences of the way Russia treats dissidents, emphasises the importance of grassroots opposition and explains how she continues to oppose Putin’s regime.

And as the UK government tightens restrictions on protests, learn from Alyokhina why standing up to state-sanctioned repression is vital.

Tim Bouverie talks to David Olusoga

Allies at War: The Politics of Defeating Hitler

Friday 28 November 2025, 4pm – Castle Marquee

By 1942, after the German invasion of Russia and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the British-Soviet-American alliance was in place, yet it was a partnership divided by ideology and politics and riven with mistrust and deceit.

Delve into rarely seen material – including previously unpublished diaries – found from more than 100 archives, and hear about the political rivalry between Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin from historian Tim Bouverie, as told in his acclaimed book Allies at War, which offers history fans a new perspective as the world marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the war. Taking readers into the rooms where critical decisions were made, Allies at War also takes a look at the origins of the Cold War.

Bouverie is interviewed by acclaimed historian, bestselling author and broadcaster David Olusoga, recent interviewer of former President Barack Obama.

Hay-on-Wye Christmas Lights switch-on

Friday 28 November 2025, 5pm – 7pm (6.30pm switch-on) – Memorial Square, Hay-on-Wye

Take in the beauty of the booktown in the Christmas season, and be part of the Hay-on-Wye festival extravaganza this Festival Friday to kick off your evening of festive fun.

Memorial Square will be filled with festive spirit: watch as Santa passes by on a steam engine, partake in Christmas activities, and grab a delicious bite to eat and a warming drink ahead of the main event.

On this magical occasion, with Hay Castle as your backdrop, watch as the Christmas lights are switched on by Hay-on-Wye’s Citizen of the Year and a special guest, following in the footsteps of previous guests including Miriam Margoyles, Hamza Yassin and Luke Evans.

Co-hosted by Hay Town Council and Hay Chamber of Commerce.

The Hay-on-Wye Christmas lights are only possible through contributions and support from businesses and the wider community. Please consider donating at https://gofund.me/d084e8d3b

Paul Davies and Vlatko Vedral talk to Caroline Steel

The Quantum Revolution

Friday 28 November 2025, 5.30pm – 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.

Joanna Page talks to Nuala McGovern

Lush! From Swansea to Stacey and Everything in Between

Friday 28 November 2025, 7pm – Castle Marquee

Beloved Welsh actress and Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page shares heartwarming stories about her upbringing and candid reflections on life on and off the screen.

A unique chance to celebrate a leading contemporary actress, Page – who also starred in Love, Actually – will talk to Woman’s Hour presenter Nuala McGovern, reflecting on growing up along the glorious Welsh coastline outside Swansea, the culture shock of moving to London alone to pursue acting, and the chaos and joy of bringing up four children.

Page played the titular Stacey in the hit BBC show, which gave Barry Island and the Vale of Glamorgan a place in viewers’ hearts. Page’s memoir Lush! sees her tell her story for the first time and share honest thoughts on staying true to yourself when fame comes knocking.

Sponsored by Sinclair Group

Father Richard: Silent Film with Live Organ Accompaniment

Faust

Friday 28 November 2025, 7.30pm – 10pm – St Mary’s Church

The historic St Mary’s Church provides the atmospheric setting for a unique and immersive screening of the classic silent film Faust.

Experience the 1926 film – which follows the demon Mephisto (Emil Jannings) as he tries to corrupt old alchemist Faust (Gösta Ekman), who is desperately trying to save his village from a plague in a completely new way only at Hay Festival Winter Weekend.

Organist and composer Father Richard Williams, former vicar of St Mary’s Church in Hay-on-Wye, provides soaring live accompaniment on the church’s Bevington Organ in an evening that calls on the nostalgia of the old school cinema experience.

Sponsored by Castello De Haye

Festive Wines for a Perfect Christmas

Wine Tasting with Tanners Wines

Friday 28 November 2025, 7.30pm – Hay Castle – Richard Booths Library

Get into the swing of the festive season with this fabulous event on festival Friday, and start thinking about the wines you’ll have on your table at Christmas.

Independent wine merchants, Tanners Wines, present a Christmas wine tasting, featuring a selection of wines perfect for the coming festivities. You’ll get to taste a range of wines suitable for all palates and price points in this masterclass led by the expertly knowledgeable staff from the award-winning local merchant.

Established in 1842, Tanners is family-run and proudly independent, with all the inside knowledge on crowd-pleasing wines crafted with care.

Sponsored by Tanners Wines

Olga Koch

Comedy: Olga Koch Comes From Money

Friday 28 November 2025, 8.30pm – 9.45pm – Castle Marquee

For fans of sharp and satirical social comedies like Succession and The White Lotus, Olga Koch’s new show is comedy perfection.

Olga Koch Comes From Money, which was nominated for Most Outstanding Show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2025, is a head-on – and hilarious – confrontation of wealth and class.

Koch, whose father was once the deputy prime minister of Russia, uses her own story to interrogate what it means to have money, providing plenty of laughs and thought-provoking observations along the way.

Sponsored by The Old Railway Line Garden Centre

Arifa Akbar talks to Nuala McGovern

Journey into the Night

Friday 28 November 2025, 8.30pm – Hay Castle – The Gallery

As night falls on Hay-on-Wye, the Guardian’s chief theatre critic Arifa Akbar safely guides us through the hours after the sun goes down.

Exploring how the night shapes our bodies and minds, Akbar, whose acclaimed first book Consumed looked at art and her relationship with her late sister, delves into her new book Wolf Moon.

She intertwines personal reflections and her experiences of the night-time with tales of writers and artists who are inspired by the darkness, stories of those who work at night, and musings on the solace and serenity found in the hours when most people are asleep.

As darkness surrounds Hay and the nearby Black Mountains and Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, join Akbar – interviewed by Woman’s Hour presenter Nuala McGovern – for a new look at night. There’s no more perfect place to take in this conversation than on a dark sky reserve, where clear skies and stars can be seen above.

Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga

USA: The First 250 Years

Saturday 29 November 2025, 10am – Castle Marquee

Two of Britain’s leading historians – Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga – open a year of reflections on the United States of America, as it prepares to celebrate 250 years of independence.

The consequences of America’s experiment in democracy are still unfolding, and the contradictions, battles and ideals that continue to define it are still under debate.

Churchwell and Olusoga look at what the formation of America meant for the world, whether its vision of liberty has come true, and whether American democracy can survive the challenges it now faces.

Churchwell is chair of public humanities at the University of London and author of Behold America: A History of America First and the American Dream.

David Olusoga is professor of public history at the University of Manchester and author of Black History for Every Day of the Year, and co-host of the podcast Journey Through Time.

Jamie Tahsin talks to Ben Mercer

Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate’s Manosphere

Saturday 29 November 2025, 10am – 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.

South Powys Youth Music

Pop-Up Music

Saturday 29 November 2025, 11.05am – 11.25am – Hay Castle – Great Hall

Celebrate and support young Welsh musical talent by taking in a performance from South Powys Youth Music. Hear the local student ensembles as they perform in the inspiring surroundings of Hay Castle’s Great Hall.

The local charity aims to provide children and young people in Brecon and Radnorshire with music lessons, helping them develop skills to fulfill their musical and personal potential.

Mary Portas talks to Decca Aitkenhead

I Shop, Therefore I Am

Saturday 29 November 2025, 11.30am – Castle Marquee

Queen of the high street Mary Portas breathed new life into iconic department store Harvey Nichols and revolutionised the way shop window displays are used forever, before going on to found her own creative empire.

Portas, judge of this year’s Hay-on-Wye window display competition, speaks to acclaimed journalist and broadcaster Decca Aitkenhead about how she turned Harvey Nichols, a fusty and fussy shop that was mostly associated with dowagers in the 1990s, into Harvey Nicks, a trend-setting favourite of style icon Princess Diana and a leader in outrageous, headline-grabbing window displays.

Sharing candid behind-the-scenes stories and gossip from the early days of her career, Portas offers a glimpse at the creative risk taker whose impact continues to be felt on our high streets.

Cynan Jones talks to Arifa Akbar

Stories of Mud, Magic and Mire

Saturday 29 November 2025, 11.30am – Hay Castle – The Gallery

Acclaimed Welsh fiction writer Cynan Jones introduces Pulse, a collection of short stories filled with vulnerability and tension. From the tale of a man heading into the snow to hunt down the bear that has been taking stock from farms in the valley to a story of a fierce storm that threatens to bring down a tree on powerlines over a family’s home, Pulse demonstrates Jones’ power as one of the finest contemporary voices in literary fiction and captures the beauty and brutality of rural life.

Jones, who wrote the screenplay for an episode of the BAFTA-winning crime series Hinterland and has won the Wales Book of the Year Fiction prize, speaks to the Guardian’s chief theatre critic Arifa Akbar. Jones also contributed to Seren Books’ New Stories of the Mabinogion series which published modern re-worked stories from the Celtic Mabinogion myth cycle by contemporary Welsh authors.

The Borders Walk

With Kate Humble

Saturday 29 November 2025, 11.30am – 1.30pm – Meet Outside Hay Castle Coach House

Take to the fresh air with broadcaster and author Kate Humble, and explore the border between England and Wales, which wraps itself tightly around Hay-on-Wye.

As well as taking in the beautiful countryside, chat to Humble about her mixed livestock farm Humble by Nature, her love of the countryside and work on television, and about why she thinks taking a daily walk is as essential as that first cup of tea to make her feel good for the rest of the day. Mountain guide Sarah Price of Walk Hay will join her in leading the walk.

Sponsored by Inntravel

South Powys Youth Music

Pop-Up Music

Saturday 29 November 2025, 12.35pm – 12.55pm – Hay Castle – Great Hall

Celebrate and support young Welsh musical talent by taking in a performance from South Powys Youth Music. Hear the local student ensembles as they perform in the inspiring surroundings of Hay Castle’s Great Hall.

The local charity aims to provide children and young people in Brecon and Radnorshire with music lessons, helping them develop skills to fulfill their musical and personal potential.

Nikita Gill and Natalie Haynes

Walking with Goddesses

Saturday 29 November 2025, 1pm – Castle Marquee

The Greek myths you think you know are thrown into new light by Nikita Gill and Natalie Haynes, two of the most engaging and exciting voices in retellings, seen together in a rare appearance.

Poet Gill and writer and broadcaster and rock star mythologist Haynes discuss their work, and delve into why they – and we – are so fascinated by new takes on some of the world’s oldest stories. In Hekate: The Witch, Gill relates in verse the story of the goddess of magic and witchcraft, who is raised by Hades and Styx in the Underworld, where she encounters beauty and horror. Haynes’ No Friend to This House is a reimagining of the life of Medea, based on the classic tragedy by Euripides, and tackles Medea’s power, her relationship with Jason, and the rippling effects of her actions. Both tales are electrifying and spine-chilling – the perfect pairing for a dark November evening.

Teleri Glyn-Jones, Will Hayward and Ruth Mosalski talk to Rob Osborne

Could Reform Win in Wales?

Saturday 29 November 2025, 1pm – 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.

John Turrell

It’s All Fun and Games

Saturday 29 November 2025, 1pm – Hay Castle – The Gallery

Step back into your childhood with John Turrell, and reminisce about school playground games from years past.

Based on more than 20 years of research into children’s games and child-lore across Herefordshire and Worcestershire between 1880 and 2010, Turrell’s book Acky, Acky 1, 2, 3! is a deep dive into the games played – from tag to What’s the Time Mr. Wolf – the songs sung and the rhymes that were chanted by children in the streets and in school playgrounds across the two counties.

This event, ironically not suitable for children, is an uncensored look at games and their contribution to social history, and why children’s games are still alive and thriving. Expect fun and, of course, games. Turrell is a former teacher, and researcher with a long-time interest in children’s play and language.

PLEASE NOTE: Readers will find examples of offensive language at various points in the book. This book records the words used by the contributors without any attempt to censor them.That does not mean that any of them are condoned or approved of, but that actual usage is kept in the interests of social history and recording the reality of children’s play. Readers may find the racial language, the slurs and stereotyping offensive – it was and still is.

Lyse Doucet and Sune Engel Rasmussen

The Betrayal of Afghanistan

Saturday 29 November 2025, 2.30pm – Castle Marquee

Two veteran journalists with first-hand experience of Afghanistan offer a deep insight into a country betrayed by the West and Taliban alike, and assess the ongoing impact of its turbulent politics on its allies.

The BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet first visited Kabul’s Inter-Continental Hotel – opened in 1969 and a symbol of the country’s hope for modernisation – in the late 1980s. Returning to the hotel multiple times in the decades since, she uses it and its workers as a lens into the country’s modern history in her book The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History.

Wall Street Journal correspondent Sune Engel Rasmussen offers another perspective in Twenty Years: Hope, War, and the Betrayal of an Afghan Generation, drawing on over a decade of reporting to tell how 9/11 shaped – and shattered – the lives of young Afghans.

South to North conversations: with the support of Open Society Foundations

Sponsored by The Millichap Peace Fund

Rachel Parris in conversation with Sarah Churchwell

Jane Austen: 250 Years

Saturday 29 November 2025, 2.30pm – St Mary’s Church

In the 250th anniversary year of Jane Austen’s birth, there is no sign of our love for one of the nation’s most celebrated authors diminishing.

Rounding off a year of celebrations and discussions at Hay Festivals about Austen, join Rachel Parris in conversation with academic Sarah Churchwell about the enduring legacy of the Pride and Prejudice scribe, and offer up a new understanding of her work and why it continues to speak to us.

Comedian Parris’ Introducing Mrs Collins is a fictional look at Pride and Prejudice’s Charlotte Lucas, who in Austen’s original pursued stability in a marriage to Mr Collins. In Parris’ book, a spark is lit in Charlotte when an unexpected visitor turns up at her Kent home. Parris is a founding member of the critically acclaimed touring improv comedy group Austentatious, and co-hosts the podcast How Was It For You with her husband Marcus Brigstocke.

James Murray talks to Nicola Cutcher

The River Wye: Creatures of Light

Saturday 29 November 2025, 2.30pm – Hay Castle – The Gallery

Actor, artist, and conservation activist James Murray MBE looks at the current crisis facing our rivers from pollution, overextraction and poor management.

Murray grew up in Hereford and is a passionate campaigner for improvements in river quality, including the River Wye. The river, which is protected for its importance to rare wildlife including endangered Atlantic salmon, is suffering ecological decline and under threat from agricultural run-off, sewage pollution, climate change and other pressures.

A lifelong fly fisherman, Murray founded Activist Anglers in 2023 to empower and educate anglers to protect their local waterways. James is an ambassador for the Atlantic Salmon Trust; he also hosts the acclaimed podcast The Last Salmon and is instrumental in Project White Hart, a pioneering salmon restoration effort for the Test and Itchen chalkstreams where he lives.

Murray, who has starred in The Crown and Masters of the Air, will be in conversation with investigative journalist Nicola Cutcher, who co-produced a documentary about the polluted state of Britain's rivers and is a lead campaigner for Friends of the River Wye.

Murray combines his passion for conservation with creativity. This event is also a chance to see one of Murray’s paintings from his Creatures of Light series, where he sank 10 canvases in key salmon rivers across the UK, including the Wye, during spawning season, retrieved them, then painted on them.

Hay Community Choir

Pop-up Music

Saturday 29 November 2025, 3.35pm – 3.55pm – Hay Castle – Great Hall

Sebastian Faulks talks to Erica Wagner

Fires Which Burned Brightly

Saturday 29 November 2025, 4pm – Castle Marquee

Hear from one of Britain’s best-loved authors, Sebastian Faulks, as he takes us on a journey through his life and writing career.

In his memoir, the author shares stories of his post-war rural childhood; not one, but two daring escapes from boarding school; the booze-sodden heyday of his time as a journalist on Fleet Street; the delirium of a jetlagged American book tour; and the writing of the award-winning Birdsong in his brother’s house in 1992.

There will be politics, psychiatry and frustrated ventures into the world of entertainment and all analysed with his signature patience and rueful humour. Sharply perceptive and alive with a generous wit, Fires Which Burned Brightly is a work of subtle yet profound intelligence and warmth. Faulks talks to writer and critic Erica Wagner.

Kim Leadbeater talks to Jennifer Nadel

The Case for Compassion

Saturday 29 November 2025, 4pm – St Mary’s Church

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.

Layla Robinson talks to Kitty Corrigan

Everlasting Blooms

Saturday 29 November 2025, 4pm – Hay Castle – The Gallery

Floral artist Layla Robinson creates an incredible everlasting floral piece live on stage, as she discusses her creative process and offers inspiration on how to brighten up your home with flowers.

Robinson, who lives locally and is the author of Everlasting Blooms, will speak to writer and editor Kitty Corrigan about her passion for sustainability and how she weaves it into all her work, and about growing and drying her own flowers. In Everlasting Blooms, Robinson sets out 25 floristry projects that can be done at home.

This is a chance to experience the work of a renowned floral artist in the heart of the wild and beautiful landscape that inspires her every day.

Sponsored by Faith in Nature

Hay Shantymen

Pop-up Music

Saturday 29 November 2025, 5.05pm – 5.25pm – Hay Castle – Great Hall

Feel the Hay Shantymen’s soaring voices all around as they fill Hay Castle’s 13th century Great Hall with their renditions of foot-stomping seafaring songs and traditional shanties.

The historic setting of the castle makes this performance an immersive experience, with the chance to relax beside the Great Hall’s roaring fireplace offering an interlude in your busy festival schedule.

Mick Herron and Jonathan Pryce talk to Jay Hunt

Book to Screen: Slow Horses

Saturday 29 November 2025, 5.30pm – Castle Marquee

Peek behind the curtain of the critically acclaimed adaptation Slow Horses, with author Mick Herron and actor Jonathan Pryce.

The pair speak to Jay Hunt, creative director for AppleTV+ and chair of Hay Festival, about bringing the grit and high-stakes drama of Herron’s acclaimed Slough House espionage series to the screen, and why they think the show, which also stars Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas, has been so successful and celebrated.

As Slow Horses’ fifth season airs, hear from Herron about adapting his books for the screen and from Welsh actor Pryce about bringing retired MI5 officer David Cartwright to life. The latest book in the Slough House series is Clown Town, in which Diana Taverner sees an opportunity for blackmail when someone threatens to expose the ugly side of state security.

James Fox talks to Kate Humble

Craftland: A Journey Through Britain’s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades

Saturday 29 November 2025, 5.30pm – St Mary’s Church

Celebrate the craftsmanship that has shaped our surroundings, with award-winning broadcaster and art historian James Fox, and hear about some of the country’s last remaining master craftspeople.

Fox’s book Craftland chronicles the traditional crafts of the British Isles, for generations what we made with our hands shaped our identities, built our communities and defined our regions. Craftland chronicles the vanishing skills and traditions such as thatching, hedgelaying and weaving which used to govern every aspect of life.

Fox, director of studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, talks to writer and broadcaster Kate Humble, known for promoting traditional rural crafts and skills through her smallholding, Humble by Nature. The pair discuss why skills passed down the generations must not be allowed to disappear, and celebrate the craftspeople who keep them alive.

Sponsored by Shepherds Ice Cream

Fiona McLees and Lucy Wood

Gwen John: A Curator's Tour of her Life and Work

Saturday 29 November 2025, 5.30pm – Hay Castle – The Gallery

Join us this Hay Festival Winter Weekend and be taken on a behind the scenes journey of the upcoming Amgueddfa Cymru exhibition, and explore fresh perspectives on the celebrated Welsh artist's work and life in the experienced hands of the senior curator of the exhibition Lucy Wood, and senior paper conservator at Amgueddfa Cymru Fiona McLees, and is a chance to gain fresh new perspectives on John’s work and her artistic legacy.

Gwen John, a groundbreaking modern artist. Gwen John’s work is both instantly recognisable and era-defining. She is known for the quiet strength of the solitary women in her portraits and the reflective stillness of her interiors. Gwen John defied convention to forge her own, independent existence. She trained at the progressive Slade School of Fine Art, then one of the few art schools that were accepting women on the same terms as men.

Innominati Singers

Pop-up Music

Saturday 29 November 2025, 6.35pm – 6.55pm – Hay Castle – Great Hall

An irresistible session of music from one of Hay-on-Wye’s most fun-loving singing groups.

With diverse musical backgrounds, including folk, musical theatre, classical, pop, jazz, and Welsh music, expect an eclectic, unpredictable and lively 20 minutes of music.

Hollie McNish

Virgin

Saturday 29 November 2025, 7pm – Castle Marquee

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!

Sponsored by Shepherds Parlour

Jehan Alfarra, Lyse Doucet and Imran Khan talk to Bethan McKernan

Reporting on the Middle East

Saturday 29 November 2025, 7pm – St Mary’s Church

What does it mean to tell the stories of the Middle East in a time of conflict, displacement, and rapid change? How do reporters deal with challenging conditions? And what is the mental toll of covering war?

Renowned BBC journalist Lyse Doucet, British-Palestinian journalist Jehan Alfarra, and Aljazeera Middle East correspondent Imran Khan take us behind-the-scenes in a wide-ranging conversation about the power of personal narratives, the responsibility of journalists to amplify voices often unheard, and how to navigate truth.

They speak with Bethan McKernan, former Jerusalem and wider Middle East correspondent, who is now focusing on Wales in her role as Wales correspondent for the Guardian.

Doucet is the BBC's chief international correspondent and has led BBC coverage of events ranging from the Arab Spring to the Sudanese Civil War.

Alfarra is a British-Palestinian multimedia journalist, editor and writer with over a decade of experience covering Middle Eastern current affairs and politics, culture and human rights. She has lived and worked for years in both Gaza and London and has reported from across Europe and the Middle East.

Khan became a correspondent for Al Jazeera English in 2005 and is known for his extensive reporting from Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine and Libya, Syria, Ukraine and more, as well He continues to work as a correspondent for Al Jazeera English, dividing his time between the Middle East, South Asia and London.

South to North conversations: with the support of Open Society Foundations

Carlos Fonseca and Oscar Guardiola-Rivera talk to Cristina Fuentes La Roche

20 Years of Hay Festival in Latin America – Celebrating its Literature

Saturday 29 November 2025, 7pm – Hay Castle – The Gallery

Marking two decades of Hay Festival in Latin America, this special conversation celebrates the region’s vibrant and diverse literature.

Authors Carlos Fonseca and Oscar Guardiola-Rivera join Cristina Fuentes La Roche, international director of Hay Festival, to discuss their own writing and the wider horizon of Latin American and Latinx literature published in English, considering the joyful and changing landscape of the last 20 years of the region’s literary scene.

Expect to leave this event with a host of expertly curated new book recommendations, and a desire to learn more about Latin America through its stories.

Fonseca is a Costa Rican novelist, essayist, and academic whose works explore art, history, exile, and the fragility of identity. He was included in Bogotá39 – Hay Festival’s selection of the best young Latin American authors – in both 2007 and 2017.

Guardiola-Rivera is professor of philosophy and human rights at Birkbeck, University of London, and an award-winning writer. The launch of his latest book, A Hopeful Political Imagination, coincides with the Festival.

South to North conversations: with the support of Open Society Foundations