Hay Festival 2026

Join renowned cellist-singer and environmental activist Sarah Smout for a unique evening of visceral storytelling, making the Gothic arches and austere stonework of St Mary’s Church shimmer with atmosphere. Smout sailed among frozen sea, icebergs and glaciers during a 2025 expeditionary residency around Svalbard in Norway, collecting their sounds and performing improvisations amid the rapidly melting Arctic.

This experience inspires her entrancing and transportive solo show, which invites us to listen more deeply to the fragile beauty of polar regions, inspiring hope, awe and wonder, and highlighting the profound impacts of climate change. Smout creates atmosphere with live-looped cello, haunting melodies and poetry that is never too far from the sea. This is a truly special evening of performance in a unique setting.

A blissful night of songs that make you sing and tunes that make you dance, as cosmic shape-shifters The Poozies take to the stage. The pioneering Scottish trad band formed in 1990, originally with an all-female line-up, and were at the forefront of a wave that revolutionised traditional Scots and Gaelic music.

They’re known for their eclectic choice of material and a seductive energy – expect unusual and exciting arrangements, notable vocal harmonies and a dose of sass and irreverence as the group performs new music and old hits.

The band are anchored by founding member Mary Macmaster on electro-harp, with the irrepressible riotousness of Eilidh Shaw and Sarah McFadyen on twin fiddles and the shimmering joyfulness of Mike Bryan on guitar.