Hay Festival 2026

Three brilliant speakers, all with something completely different to say. Enjoy the range and variety of Hay Festival packaged into one entertaining session. Presenter Dallas Campbell reveals why space flight is built on science fiction. Actor and author Tony Robinson tells us why history is the best thing on Earth. And legendary author Katherine Rundell discusses the power of reading for pleasure in a time of AI. Hosted by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, who’ll open the Festival with poetry.

Join Clive Anderson and guests for an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy in this special live recording of Radio 4’s long-running variety show.

Hear first-hand from a pioneer who changed the world. Visionary inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee tells the remarkable story of how he created the World Wide Web. He reveals This is for Everyone as part memoir, part manifesto, reminding us that he gave the web freely to the world, and urges us to work together to protect it as a force for good. He talks to John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times.

Barbara Erskine’s Lady of Hay became an instant best-seller on its publication in 1986, and has remained in print ever since. Devoted and new fans alike will be delighted with her new edition that now includes an extra chapter. Erskine celebrates the book’s 40th anniversary and discusses bringing the story right up to date, with Emma Corfield-Walters, owner of independent bookshop Bookish.

The iconic novel blends historical fiction with fantasy, when a journalist debunking the idea of past-life regression submits to hypnotism and finds herself reliving the experiences of Matilda, Lady of Hay, the wife of a baron at the time of King John. As the unspeakable treachery of the past becomes entwined with the present, it becomes clear that, 800 years on, the story is beginning again.

Buckle up for a riotous evening of boyish banter, rugby reminiscence and surprisingly personal stories of life beyond the pitch with James Haskell, Alex Payne and Mike Tindall. Haskell is a former rugby international; Payne is an experienced rugby broadcaster; and Tindall is widely considered to be one of the finest rugby players ever to put on an England shirt. In this energising mix of storytelling, friendship and mischief, the trio discuss everything from how they each started out in their careers to what’s wrong with the current game, via how to make a decent cup of tea. A great way to start the evening for anyone who enjoys authentic conversation with heart and humour. They talk to sports journalist Lauren Salter, one of the most recognisable faces in Welsh rugby broadcasting.

Join Andy Zaltzman for a recording of Radio 4’s flagship topical comedy show as he grabs the week’s headlines and hurls them at four of the nation’s best comedians and journalists.

Hear from one of our best-loved historical experts and actors, Sir Tony Robinson, about his debut novel for adults, an epic story of greed, ambition and betrayal. The House of Wolf moves between multiple characters across Rome, Wessex and Lindisfarne, and is a witty recreation of the Anglo-Saxons, Alfred the Great and the making of England.

Robinson discusses drawing on his own knowledge of history, how his acting career impacted his book, and moving from writing for children to adults. Robinson was the original presenter of Time Team, and has had a long acting career, including playing Baldrick in Blackadder and the Sheriff of Nottingham in Maid Marion and Her Merry Men, which he also wrote. He talks to antiques expert and television presenter Kate Bliss.

After a day of devouring ideas, get a taste of Mediterranean warmth and settle down to an evening of cooking and conversation with chef, food writer and stylist Georgina Hayden, as she demonstrates recipes from new cookbook MEDesque and talks to food editor Holly O’Neill.

Hayden’s fifth book travels through Spain, Italy, the Balkans and beyond to unearth everyday recipes with Mediterranean roots. With delightfully oozy gnocchi puttanesca, ‘nduja, pepper and three cheese lasagne, and salted honey butter madeleines, the recipes in the book are infused with her love of food, family and storytelling, inspired by a childhood spent in her grandparents’ Greek Cypriot taverna.

Pussy Riot bravely and flamboyantly harnessed the power of art and culture to resist Putin’s oppression. This is a rare chance to hear first-hand from its founder member Maria Alyokhina. She served time in a brutal Russian prison after performing the punk prayer ‘Virgin Mary, Banish Putin’ with her friends at the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. In the face of a new prison sentence, she eventually escaped from Russia dressed as a food delivery driver.

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, we can learn from Alyokhina why standing up to state-sanctioned repression is vital. She speaks to investigative journalist Oliver Bullough.

Great conversation interspersed with music from the Manics’ lead singer – an unforgettable way to hear the band’s story. Bradfield and Wire talk to Keith Cameron, the author of this definitive history of the band. They chart their rise to fame starting in the late ’80s in the stricken mining communities of south Wales, the tragedy of their bandmate’s disappearance, and their remarkable rebirth with the award-winning album Everything Must Go. An unmissable chance to hear from the legendary band that revolutionised the 1990s music scene.