Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2025

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Travel the world from Hay Castle with musician Olivia Preye as she takes us on a tour of the world’s music and her influences, from her early days of studying jazz at Guildhall to the gamelan of Indonesia and Indian classical music, she’ll also be dropping in some folk vocals accompanied by her shruti box and mandolin.

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.

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.

Folklore and dark history are brought to life under the vaulted ceiling of Hay Castle’s Great Hall by the performance group Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk.

As the darkness settles over Hay-on-Wye, this is an unrivalled chance to see the innovative Herefordshire group tell stories through dance, song, music, customs and ceremonies in the most magical of settings.

Following Hollie Starling’s event on working-class folk horror stories, let Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk help you sink further into the world of the mythical and mystical.

Hear a sneak peek of virtuoso guitarist Michael Poll’s music ahead of his concert at St Mary’s Church in the afternoon.

Poll is both a conductor and virtuoso guitarist whose music has over 1 million streams on Spotify and Apple Music, and was featured on the BBC and Classic FM.

Our pop-up music sessions offer magical interludes between events in the incredible Great Hall at Hay Castle.

Hay’s own Welsh-language choir lifts the spirits in this short performance between events.

Performing a variety of folk songs, rousing hymns and choral classics, this is a joyful celebration of Welsh music and culture.

The majority of the choir’s members are either learning Welsh or passionate about the language, with three first-language Welsh-speakers keeping a strict ear on pronunciation.

Our pop-up music sessions offer magical interludes between events in the incredible Great Hall at Hay Castle.

Get in the festive mood with a performance of seasonal classics, sung by women’s a capella group Decis.

The group, made up of members from Hay-on-Wye and the surrounding villages, perform from the gallery of Hay Castle’s Great Hall.

Got 2 Sing Choir performs uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies and festive classics, with plenty of fun and laughter.

Our pop-up music sessions offer magical interludes between events in the incredible Great Hall at Hay Castle.

Got 2 Sing Choir performs uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies and festive classics, with plenty of fun and laughter.

Our pop-up music sessions offer magical interludes between events in the incredible Great Hall at Hay Castle.