Hay Festival 2026

Wayfaring Walk 3: The Climate Emergency  

With Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Guides

Saturday 23 May 2026, 10am – 12.30pm –  Meeting Point on Festival Site

Come on a walk through the beautiful surrounds of Hay-on-Wye, led by guides from the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. During the walk we’ll discuss the impact of the climate emergency on national parks.

Hay-on-Wye is located within 520 square miles of beautiful countryside 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.

In partnership with Bannau Brycheiniog National Park

Stephen Grosz talks to Claudia Hammond  

Love’s Labour: Why We Need to Do the Emotional Work

Saturday 23 May 2026, 10am –  St Mary’s Church

Why do we find love so difficult? Psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz sheds light on the universal experience of love and its ups and downs, in this enlightening conversation with author and psychologist Claudia Hammond. Grosz shares stories and insights about love gained from 40 years of conversations with his patients. He suggests that learning how to love is work well worth doing, and points us towards what we can do to be ready to truly love.

Grosz is a practising psychoanalyst and author of best-seller The Examined Life. Hammond is presenter of several podcasts and radio shows including All in the Mind on BBC Radio 4 which covers psychology, neuroscience and mental health.

Mikey Please  

The Cave Downwind of the Café

Saturday 23 May 2026, 10am –  Spring Stage

Are you ready to follow Mikey Please back into the woods, to discover more hungry goblins and bath-tubs of bogey broth? The BAFTA-award-winning and Oscar-nominated animation director and writer will conjure up brilliantly disgusting scenes from his new picture book The Cave Downwind of the Café, where owner Rene is in peril and unusual waiter Glumfoot must once again save the day…

Mikey was named overall winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year 2025 for his funny and immersive picture book The Café at the Edge of the Woods.

Drama Workshop with Theatr Cymru  

Miss Prydderch’s Magic Carpet | Carped Hud Miss Prydderch

Saturday 23 May 2026, 10am – 12pm –  Creative Hub

Join author and poet Mererid Hopwood and Theatr Cymru on a magical adventure at this interactive bilingual workshop. Inspired by Mererid’s Dosbarth Miss Prydderch book series and upcoming touring theatre production, children will enjoy an opportunity to build confidence and devise a magical story. An informal showing of the children’s work will be held at 11.45am. Led by Mererid Hopwood, Welsh author, poet and Archdruid, and Gwawr Pritchard – Theatr Cymru’s Participation Co-ordinator.

Ymunwch â’r awdur a’r bardd Mererid Hopwood a Theatr Cymru ar antur hudolus yn y gweithdy dwyieithog rhyngweithiol hwn. Wedi’i ysbrydoli gan y gyfres llyfrau Dosbarth Miss Prydderch gan Mererid a’r cynhyrchiad theatr sy’n teithio cyn hir, bydd plant yn mwynhau cyfle i feithrin hyder a dyfeisio stori hudolus. Bydd dangosiad anffurfiol o waith y plant yn digwydd am 11.45am. Arweinir gan Mererid Hopwood, awdur, bardd ac Archdderwydd, a Gwawr Pritchard – Cydlynydd Cyfranogi Theatr Cymru.

Make & Take Crafting  

Saturday Morning Session

Saturday 23 May 2026, 10am – 11.30am –  Make & Take Hub

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.

BorderLands Exhibition & Hay Castle Entry  

Saturday 23 May 2026, 10am – 5pm –  Hay Castle

Step inside Hay Castle – a border stronghold shaped by myth, power and reinvention. Visit the current BorderLands exhibition delivered in partnership with Meadow Arts, and enjoy full access to the castle, from cellar to rooftop. Explore rooms layered with stories, including Matilda’s room, the Richard Booth space, historic costumes and the castle cellar.

Experience the new, interactive exhibit on the second floor, then climb to the viewing platform for wide views across the Wye Valley. Your ticket also includes unlimited return visits for a full year, so you can come back as the seasons – and the castle – change.

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 Meadow Arts BorderLands exhibition.

A Borderland Walk: New Roots, Ancient Paths  

With Sarah Price and Joseph Emmett

Saturday 23 May 2026, 10.30am – 1pm –  Meeting Point on Festival Site

This special guided walk invites you to step beyond Hay-on-Wye and into the richly layered border landscape that has shaped centuries of history. Led by professional walking guide Sarah Price, with writer and historian Joseph Emmett accompanying, this gentle circular walk blends walking, listening and reflection.

Sarah will share local insight into the landscape and its human history, while Joseph draws on his book New Roots, Ancient Lands: Walking Herefordshire’s History, offering short readings and welcoming questions as the walk unfolds. A chance to experience the countryside as both place and story.

In partnership with Sarah Price Hiking

Guided Tour of Hay Castle & Hay Castle Entry  

Explore Hay Castle with a Tour Guide

Saturday 23 May 2026, 11am –  Hay Castle

Step inside Hay Castle during Hay Festival 2026 and explore a place shaped by power, survival and reinvention. Led by an expert volunteer guide, this tour traces 800 years of life inside the castle – from medieval plots and royal whispers to its rescue, restoration and reimagining as a place for ideas today. You’ll move through rooms, stairways and towers, hearing stories of the people who lived, schemed, dreamed and partied here. Along the way, take in sweeping views across the Wye Valley – a reminder that this is a border castle, built to watch and be watched.

Guided tours run daily at 11am and 2pm. Tour price includes entry into the Castle for a year including the current exhibition: BorderLands.

South Powys Youth Music  

Pop-up Music

Saturday 23 May 2026, 11.05am – 11.25am –  Bookshop Garden Marquee

Celebrate and support young Welsh musical talent at this 20-minute open-air performance between events. South Powys Youth Music is a local student ensemble, run as a charity to provide children and young people in Brecon and Radnorshire with music lessons, helping them develop skills to fulfill their musical and personal potential.

Liam Byrne and John Burn-Murdoch talk to Anna Foster  

Why Populists are Winning and How to Beat Them

Saturday 23 May 2026, 11.30am –  Global Stage

Why does Reform appeal to so many voters? Can they be attracted back to the centre ground? Former Labour cabinet minister Liam Byrne MP exposes the forces propelling the populist surge – and sets out a plan to stop it. He’s joined by Financial Times journalist John Burn-Murdoch, for a deep analysis of why we vote the way we do. They talk to Anna Foster, presenter of Radio 4’s flagship Today programme.

Carissa Véliz talks to Frederick Studemann  

South to North Conversations: Prophecy – Prediction, Power and the Fight for the Future

Saturday 23 May 2026, 11.30am –  Discovery Stage

Prediction has always shaped the way we live – from the oracles of the ancient world and the astrologers of the Middle Ages, to today’s algorithms determined by computer scientists and statisticians. In this conversation with FT Journalist Frederick Studemann, Carissa Véliz uncovers the unspoken truths of putting too much stock in predictions about the future, and the practical and philosophical risks we face when we hand our hopes and data to AI.

In her latest book Prophecy, the University of Oxford professor looks at medicine, climate, technology and society, revealing how predictions about humans are often self-fulfilling, why more data doesn’t mean better outcomes, and how prediction is much more about power than it is understanding the future.

Supported by Open Society Foundations

Owain Mulligan talks to Jules Hudson  

The Accidental Soldier

Saturday 23 May 2026, 11.30am –  St Mary’s Church

What’s life as a modern soldier really like? In this frank, funny and surprising insight, Iraq war veteran Owain Mulligan takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of how he accidentally enlisted. As a member of the Territorial Army, Mulligan hoped to swap teaching in a tough school for service in Iraq. When the job in headquarters he’d been expecting didn’t materialise, he instead found himself in Basra in 2006, during one of the most violent periods of the conflict, facing danger not just from militias, but also from faulty equipment and a chain of command that seemed determined to get him killed. He talks to broadcaster Jules Hudson.

Stephen Daldry, Joe Robertson and Joe Murphy in conversation with Razia Iqbal  

Stories, stages, and their power to shape the world

Saturday 23 May 2026, 11.30am –  Spring Stage

In an era defined by political upheaval and climate crisis, Stephen Daldry, Joe Robertson and Joe Murphy examine how storytelling, across stage and screen, can help us make sense of the moment, forge connections, and inspire action.

From Billy Elliot and The Hours to The Crown, Daldry’s work reveals a simple truth: when audiences feel deeply, they begin to think differently and that shift has consequences. Robertson and Murphy, through projects like The Jungle , The Walk and Kyoto, have brought urgent stories of refugees and displacement into public view, transforming distant crises into shared human experience.

Now, as all three artists turn their focus toward dramatising the climate emergency, this conversation asks what role the arts can play , not as an escape from reality, but as a vital force for awareness, empathy, and change.

BBC Radio 4: The Archers Live  

Emma Freud and The Archers cast

Saturday 23 May 2026, 11.30am –  Exchange Marquee

Witness the most famous burning down of a stable in world drama. To celebrate its 75th birthday, the cast and production team of the world's longest running drama recreate the most listened to event in the programme’s history, with a script in hand performance of the 1955 episode telling of the death of Grace Fairbrother. This will be followed by a discussion for The Archers Podcast, led by Emma Freud, of the lasting significance of Grace’s death.

Sheila Kanani  

This Event Will Make You a Scientist

Saturday 23 May 2026, 11.30am –  Meadow Stage

Calling all aspiring scientists! Don’t miss out on the world-changing scientific theories and concepts in this encounter with some of the most inspiring figures from science. Space scientist and teacher Dr Sheila Kanani MBE, author of This Book Will Make You a Scientist, presents science heroes from aerospace engineer Ritu Karidhal to physicist Isaac Newton.

Whether you want to measure the speed of light like Albert Einstein or communicate with chimpanzees like Jane Goodall, this event will draw out your inner scientist as you explore their big, bold ideas and how they invented, created or discovered remarkable things.

In association with The Royal Society

Make & Take Crafting  

Saturday Lunchtime Session

Saturday 23 May 2026, 12pm – 1.30pm –  Make & Take Hub

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.

Gisèle Pelicot talks to Helena Kennedy with readings from Juliet Stevenson  

A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides

Saturday 23 May 2026, 1pm –  Global Stage

Gisèle Pelicot made headlines around the world when she waived her right to anonymity in the trial accusing her husband and 50 men of sexually assaulting her for nearly a decade. The case contributed to the national debate on sexual violence in France, which led to a change in the legal definition of rape.

Here Pelicot speaks to renowned barrister Baroness Helena Kennedy about her memoir A Hymn to Life, and how she came back from an extraordinary betrayal and embraced life with a renewed passion.

This event features simultaneous interpretation from French into English.

Elodie Harper and Janina Ramirez talk to Samira Ahmed  

(Mis)representation: Women’s Stories

Saturday 23 May 2026, 1pm –  Discovery Stage

Peel back the layers of history and learn the stories of misunderstood, ignored and forgotten women in this discussion with writers Elodie Harper and Janina Ramirez. The pair speak to journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed about finding and writing about the stories of real women from centuries past.

Harper’s latest novel is Boudicca’s Daughter, in which she imagines the life of Solina, daughter to the legendary warrior and queen. Harper, who worked as a reporter at ITV News, is also the best-selling author of the Wolf Den trilogy.

Historian Ramirez’s Legenda looks at how the lives of women including Joan of Arc and Lady Godiva have been misrepresented by those keen to craft national identities. She explores the real stories behind the legends. Ramirez is an Oxford University academic, author of Femina, and a regular guest presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Front Row.

Vincent Doumeizel  

The Power of Plankton: Why it’s the Key to our Future

Saturday 23 May 2026, 1pm –  Spring Stage

Plankton are the silent heroes of our planet. They produce about half the Earth’s oxygen and are the foundation for all sea life. In this first appearance discussing his new book, Vincent Doumeizel brings plankton to life, revealing how the smallest life forms can have the biggest impact. He uncovers the hidden connections between the microscopic life in the ocean and the survival of our planet.

A seaweed expert, director of the Food Programme at the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and senior adviser on the oceans to the United Nations Global Compact, Doumeizel’s work has made significant advancements to global nutrition security.

Ronan McCrea talks to Philippe Sands  

The End of the Gay Rights Revolution

Saturday 23 May 2026, 1pm –  St Mary’s Church

Changes to the law, shifts in culture and greater freedoms can make it seem like the gay rights movement in the West has succeeded beyond its wildest dreams. But, argues academic Ronan McCrea in his book The End of the Gay Rights Revolution, there are threats to the movement’s victories, from political developments to migration patterns.

McCrea, who is professor of constitutional and European law at University College London, discusses the challenges ahead, why the gay rights movement is ill-equipped to deal with them, and what comes next, with human rights lawyer Philippe Sands.

BBC: Newscast  

Adam Fleming and guests

Saturday 23 May 2026, 1pm –  Exchange Marquee

Be in the audience for the BBC's daily news podcast - diving into the day's biggest news stories so you're never out of your depth.

Danny Robins  

Do You Believe in Ghosts?

Saturday 23 May 2026, 1pm –  Meadow Stage

Step into the world of the paranormal with Danny Robins, creator of the hit BBC podcast and TV series Uncanny. Find out whether you’re Team Believer or Team Sceptic as Danny shares stories of life as a paranormal detective and introduces some fascinating theories behind what ghosts really are.

There’ll be scientific explanations, thrilling historic happenings and truly jaw-dropping discoveries on this adventure into some of the greatest ghost stories ever! With a ‘live investigation’ reading of a real-life ghost story, a chance to ask Danny your questions, and live drawing along with illustrator Ellen Walker, it’s a ghoul’s paradise.

Drama Workshop with Theatr Cymru  

Romeo, Juliet and Me | Romeo, Juliet a Fi

Saturday 23 May 2026, 1pm – 3pm –  Creative Hub

Are Shakespeare’s words still relevant to young people in Wales today? Join actor Owain Gwynn and Theatr Cymru to explore Shakespeare’s words through movement at this interactive bilingual workshop for young people. An informal showing of the participants’ work will be held at 2.45pm. Led by actor Owain Gwynn and Gwawr Pritchard, Theatr Cymru’s Participation Co-ordinator.

Ydy geiriau Shakespeare yn dal yn berthnasol i bobl ifanc yng Nghymru heddiw? Ymunwch â’r actor Owain Gwynn a Theatr Cymru i archwilio geiriau Shakespeare drwy gwaith symud mewn gweithdy dwyieithog rhyngweithiol i bobl ifanc 12 oed a hŷn. Bydd dangosiad anffurfiol o waith y plant yn digwydd am 2.45pm. Arweinir gan yr actor Owain Gwynn a Gwawr Pritchard, Cydlynydd Cyfranogi Theatr Cymru.

Wayfaring Walk 4: The Climate Emergency  

With Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Guides

Saturday 23 May 2026, 2pm – 4.30pm –  Meeting Point on Festival Site

Come on a walk through the beautiful surrounds of Hay-on-Wye, led by guides from the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. During the walk we’ll discuss the impact of the climate emergency on national parks.

Hay-on-Wye is located within 520 square miles of beautiful countryside 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.

In partnership with Bannau Brycheiniog National Park

Guided Tour of Hay Castle & Hay Castle Entry  

Explore Hay Castle with a Tour Guide

Saturday 23 May 2026, 2pm –  Hay Castle

Step inside Hay Castle during Hay Festival 2026 and explore a place shaped by power, survival and reinvention. Led by an expert volunteer guide, this tour traces 800 years of life inside the castle – from medieval plots and royal whispers to its rescue, restoration and reimagining as a place for ideas today. You’ll move through rooms, stairways and towers, hearing stories of the people who lived, schemed, dreamed and partied here. Along the way, take in sweeping views across the Wye Valley – a reminder that this is a border castle, built to watch and be watched.

Guided tours run daily at 11am and 2pm. Tour price includes entry into the Castle for a year including the current exhibition: BorderLands.

Got 2 Sing Choir  

Pop-up Music

Saturday 23 May 2026, 2.05pm – 2.25pm –  Bookshop Garden Marquee

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Got 2 Sing Choir perform uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies, with plenty of fun and laughter.

Douglas Stuart talks to Richard Coles  

John of John: The New Book from the Shuggie Bain Author

Saturday 23 May 2026, 2.30pm –  Global Stage

Join Booker Prize-winning author Douglas Stuart for an unforgettable conversation about his deeply moving new novel, John of John. With the intensity and raw truth that made Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo modern classics, Stuart dissects masculinity, the search for love, and the profound peril of family secrets. A must-attend event for readers who crave fiction that speaks straight to the heart. Stuart speaks to writer and broadcaster Richard Coles.

Mariana Mazzucato talks to Zanny Minton Beddoes  

The Common Good Economy: A New Compass

Saturday 23 May 2026, 2.30pm –  Discovery Stage

The climate crisis is accelerating. Inequality is deepening. Public trust is crumbling. Ahead of the release of her new book, the visionary economist Professor Mariana Mazzucato presents a new theory of the common good – a rigorous reimagining of economics and a manifesto for a future economy that serves people and the planet. She talks to editor-in-chief of The Economist Zanny Minton Beddoes.

In partnership with The Economist.

A Kestrel for a Knave with Christopher Eccleston  

Book to Screen: The Read

Saturday 23 May 2026, 2.30pm –  MUBI Cinema

Experience evocative storytelling that bridges page and screen, in this screening of BAFTA-nominated actor Christopher Eccleston’s narration of Barry Hines’ seminal 1968 novel A Kestrel for a Knave (later filmed as Kes).

The groundbreaking and much celebrated novel follows a young working-class boy troubled at home and at school, who finds and trains a kestrel whom he names ‘Kes’. Eccleston brings to life this coming-of-age classic, which explores poverty, isolation and youth.

The Read is a series of outstanding performance readings of iconic British novels. Each episode offers a richly immersive celebration of literature.

A Rural Studios production for BBC Four and BBC iPlayer

Liliana Colanzi and Hanna Limulja talk to Polly Russell  

Dreaming of Resistance: Indigenous Cultures in the Face of Collapse

Saturday 23 May 2026, 2.30pm –  St Mary’s Church

How can ancient cultures open up our senses and help us dream of a better collective future? Bringing together ideas, traditions and perspectives from indigenous cultures, Brazilian anthropologist Hanna Limulja considers how dreaming is a form of indigenous resistance and hope while Bolivian writer Liliana Colanzi reflects on how environmental devastation and neoliberal violence threaten to create a dreamless future. They talk to British Library curator Polly Russell.

In You Glow in the Dark, Colanzi imagines eerie, post-nuclear futures where survival and postcolonial revolution are the norm, while Limulja’s work focuses on how dreams have been part of the territorial and cultural struggle of the Yanomami people.

Co-curated with FLIP festival. Part of the UK/Brazil Season of Culture 2025–26

BBC Radio 4: Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics  

Saturday 23 May 2026, 2.30pm –  Exchange Marquee

Join the mythologist Natalie Haynes, author of Divine Might, Pandora’s Jar and No Friend to This House as well as a reformed comedian who is a little bit obsessive about Ancient Greek and Rome. Today, for BBC Radio 4, she stands up in the name of a great figure from the ancient world. Expect life-enhancing knowledge and entertaining stories from a millennium or so ago.

Hugh Bonneville in conversation with Iszi Lawrence  

Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room: A Children’s Book from the Paddington Star

Saturday 23 May 2026, 2.30pm –  Meadow Stage

Hugh Bonneville, known for his acclaimed acting in roles from Downton Abbey to Paddington, discusses his hilarious first children’s book with comedian Iszi Lawrence. His hero Rory Sparkes is at primary school in South East London – just as Hugh himself was.

Rory is a boy with a head full of dreams. He might become a strongman and travel the world with the circus. Or he might try to make it as a cowboy – that would be a fan-tas-tic second best. But as Rory plots to make his dreams come true, everything spirals out of control. Will his plans ever work out?

Elgan Rhys and Mared Roberts  

The Five: A Novel in Five Voices

Saturday 23 May 2026, 2.30pm –  Spring Stage

The Five is a YA novel with a difference. It follows a year in the interconnected lives of five very diverse teenagers who forge a singular bond at their secondary school in north-west Wales. As they navigate the joys and tribulations of what makes them different as individuals, their newfound community is both tested and strengthened.

The Welsh language edition, Y Pump, has won multiple awards. English language editor Elgan Rhys and translator Mared Roberts discuss the book’s innovative authorship process, which paired established authors with emerging young writers who brought lived experience to the characters, creating a distinctive and relatable depiction of young adult life in Wales today.

Make & Take Crafting  

Saturday Afternoon Session

Saturday 23 May 2026, 2.30pm – 4pm –  Make & Take Hub

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.

Got 2 Sing Choir  

Pop-up Music

Saturday 23 May 2026, 3.35pm – 3.55pm –  Bookshop Garden Marquee

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Got 2 Sing Choir perform uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies, with plenty of fun and laughter.

David Miliband talks to Martha Kearney  

A Personal Analysis of the Political Landscape

Saturday 23 May 2026, 4pm –  Global Stage

The former Foreign Secretary and one-time Labour leadership contender shares his assessment of what’s going on in the world and what the future might hold at home and abroad. David Miliband was at the heart of New Labour and served in both the Blair and Brown governments. Since 2013, he’s been based in Washington as head of the International Rescue Committee, which works with people whose lives have been shattered by conflict or disaster.

He talks to journalist Martha Kearney in this compelling conversation from a key global player with intimate knowledge of Westminster politics and the international stage.

Siri Hustvedt talks to Razia Iqbal  

Ghost Stories: A Personal Memoir of Grief

Saturday 23 May 2026, 4pm –  Meadow Stage

Writer Siri Hustvedt discusses her most personal work yet, an intimate meditation on love and grief about the 40 years she spent with her husband, the late writer Paul Auster. Speaking to broadcaster Razia Iqbal, Hustvedt discusses Ghost Stories, which weaves together journal entries she wrote between Auster’s lung cancer diagnosis and his funeral, emails they exchanged during his cancer treatment, and three love letters she wrote when Auster briefly left her to return to his first wife and son.

The book also contains Auster’s last ever piece of writing: the first 35 pages of what he hoped would be a small book of letters to his and Hustvedt’s grandson, born just months before his death.

Cass Sunstein  

On Liberalism: In Defence of Freedom

Saturday 23 May 2026, 4pm –  Discovery Stage

Best-selling author and former White House staffer Cass Sunstein presents an urgent and timely defence of liberalism – what it is, why it is under threat and why we need it more than ever. Besieged from both the right – who hold it responsible for the collapse of traditional values – and the left – who think it lacks the will to tackle entrenched issues of inequality and corporate power – liberalism is facing a crisis moment.

Moving the conversation well beyond reductive political sound bites, the former advisor to Presidents Obama and Biden puts liberalism into context, and argues that we need it more than ever, as the foundation of freedom and self-government.

Sunstein is a professor at Harvard University, and former administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He has been awarded the Distinguished Public Service Medal, the US Department of Homeland Security’s highest civilian honour.

Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer talk to Polly Russell  

Matters of Taste: Honey & Co. Daily

Saturday 23 May 2026, 4pm –  Creative Hub

Book your seat at the Honey & Co. demo for a flavour of delicious Middle Eastern food that’s as quick and easy to prepare as it is to eat. After a taster on arrival, settle down to see Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer showcase their laid-back approach to cooking, with dishes that celebrate the everyday.

This is the same ethos they’ve folded into the pages of new cookbook Honey & Co. Daily, which draws on the menu they serve at their always-bustling Store Street café in London. Recipes include everyday eggs, ideas for ‘in or on bread’, nourishing salads, ‘daily nightly’ dinner ideas, and speedy cocktails and desserts. Seasonal, wholesome, relaxed recipes designed to be the reference point for daily joy.

Love & Friendship  

Book to Screen: Film Screening

Saturday 23 May 2026, 4pm – 5.40pm –  MUBI Cinema

A screening of Whit Stillman’s elegant adaptation of Jane Austen’s lesser-known novella. American sophisticate Stillman followed his comeback Damsels in Distress with a film at once unexpected and oh-so-fitting. With this delicious adaptation of Austen, he proves as adroit at chronicling the wry social scheming of the Regency as he did young Manhattanites and disco revellers.

In Love & Friendship, young widow Susan Vernon visits her in-laws’ estate while waiting for social chatter about her personal indiscretions to pass. While there, she decides to secure a husband for herself and her reluctant daughter. Enlisting the help of an old friend, she attracts the attention of many interesting men.

In partnership with MUBI

Liliana Colanzi talks to Ángel Gurría-Quintana  

South to North Conversations: Language, Memory and Community in the Face of Disaster

Saturday 23 May 2026, 4pm –  St Mary’s Church

Bolivian writer Liliana Colanzi discusses the ideas of collapse, language, kinship and memory that show up in her works, with literary journalist and translator Ángel Gurría-Quintana.

Colanzi’s short stories (You Glow in the Dark, Our Dead World) build eerie dystopian landscapes out of the decimated ruins of post-nuclear Latin America, in a style that feels both very real and completely otherworldly.

Supported by Open Society Foundations

BBC: Marianna in Conspiracyland  

Marianna Spring

Saturday 23 May 2026, 4pm –  Exchange Marquee

The BBC’s Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent delves into the world of conspiracy theories and their impact on society.

Creative Industry Insights: Danny Robins talks to Janina Ramirez  

Saturday 23 May 2026, 4pm –  Spring Stage

Danny Robins is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and journalist. He created hit BBC podcasts The Battersea Poltergeist, Uncanny and The Witch Farm, as well as the Olivier Award-nominated West End play 2:22 – A Ghost Story​. He has written various shows for TV and radio, including the BAFTA-nominated series Young Dracula for BBC1​ and the TV series of Uncanny ​for BBC2.

Danny will draw on his extensive experience to offer invaluable insights and advice for anyone interested in writing for radio, TV and stage – and about the paranormal. He talks to historian Janina Ramirez.

This event is one of a Hay Festival series of sessions delivered by inspiring producers and practitioners from the creative industries, giving their insights, experience and advice on progression in their field.

With financial assistance from The Elmley Foundation

Minims Musical Theatre Choir  

Pop-up Music

Saturday 23 May 2026, 5.05pm – 5.25pm –  Bookshop Garden Marquee

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Minims Musical Theatre Choir performs a set full of musical theatre bangers!

The choir was founded in 2024 by opera singer Stephanie Smith, and won a gold award at the Hereford Performing Arts Festival in their first year. They have recently won gold at the Worcester Competitive Arts Festival.

Dawn French talks to Richard Coles  

Enough: The Comedian and Author’s New Novel

Saturday 23 May 2026, 5.30pm –  Global Stage

Dawn French has been making us all laugh for decades. But her new novel is an emotional tearjerker – telling the story of a 68-year-old woman who unexpectedly gathers her family around her to tell them this will be her last day alive. French talks about the idea behind the book – the ultimate cure for old age – and how she writes serious subjects without sacrificing any of the comedy. All her previous books have been best-sellers, and as a comedian and actor, she’s appeared in some of the UK’s most celebrated shows, from French and Saunders and The Vicar of Dibley to her recent comedy-drama Can You Keep a Secret? She talks to parish priest turned author Richard Coles.

Devi Sridhar talks to Dan Davis  

How Not to Die (Too Soon): What to Believe if You Want to Live Longer

Saturday 23 May 2026, 5.30pm –  Discovery Stage

Join world-renowned public health expert, Devi Sridhar, for a fascinating, myth-busting conversation about what really determines how long – and how well – we live. Forget the simple eat better, move more, sleep well mantra; Sridhar argues that good health depends as much on public policy as personal choice. In conversation with best-selling science writer Professor Dan Davis, she explores how things like clean water, safe transport, and strong community health systems can transform lives. Drawing on powerful real-world examples, this lively and insightful discussion reveals how smarter policies can help us all live longer, healthier lives. Thought-provoking, hopeful and urgently relevant.

Beth Gardiner talks to Jeevan Vasagar  

Plastic Inc: Are We Stuck With Plastic?

Saturday 23 May 2026, 5.30pm –  Meadow Stage

Prepare to be shocked by this alarming exposé of the plastics industry and its impact on us all. Plastic is present in every part of our daily lives, despite many of us trying to cut back on the amount we use. In this hugely thought-provoking conversation, award-winning journalist Beth Gardiner reveals why the industry is planning to increase production in years to come, despite the public’s overwhelming desire for less plastic in our lives. She talks to the Observer’s climate editor Jeevan Vasagar.

Gardiner has written for the New York Times, the Guardian and the National Geographic. She is author of Choked, a close look at air pollution. Her latest work exposing the plastics industry in Plastic Inc. is similarly disturbing and likely to provoke many to demand change.

Grace Murray talks to Len Pennie  

Debut Discoveries: Blank Canvas

Saturday 23 May 2026, 5.30pm –  Spring Stage

Join Grace Murray, graduate of Penguin Random House’s fiercely competitive WriteNow mentorship programme for emerging talent, as she discusses her debut novel Blank Canvas with Scots poet Len Pennie, author of poyums annaw.

In Blank Canvas, a young woman at university learns that lying about her life back home can bring her attention, affection and even love. But the truth is always threatening to come out… Murray discusses themes of Catholic guilt and queer identity, clashing moral codes and lies, and how moving between countries and settings presents opportunities for reinvention.

Supported by the Hawthornden Foundation