Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2025

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.

Wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin was just a child when he discovered his love of nature, and found that the dyslexia he struggled with at school helped him foster his connection with the natural world.

Join Yassin, who grabbed the nation’s hearts as the winner of Strictly Come Dancing, as he reveals how and why his fascination with the outdoors has persisted, and shares stories of some incredible moments from his career, as told in his new book Homeward Bound.

From studying Zoology with Conservation at Bangor University to learning to ring fence birds, Wales has been a fixture in his story and love of nature. Giving a peek into the life of a wildlife cameraman, Yassin shares the joys and wonder of Mother Nature, on display at her finest all around Hay and the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

Yassin regularly appears on The One Show and Countryfile, and his latest BBC documentary is Hamza’s Hidden Wild Isles. He talks to presenter Kate Bliss.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.