Hay Festival 2019 Programme

Brought together by the founders of Tinariwen, these sublime Tuareg desert-rockers blend wild riffs, searing and searching eastern-tinged melodies, three voices singing in harmony, and the ever-present soul of the blues. Their latest album Kel Tamasheq is produced by Justin Adams.

Two readings: the geographer, Dorling, tells the stories of the people who live along The 32 Stops Of The Central Line to illustrate the extent and impact of inequality in Britain today. Wadham introduces her Heads And Straights: The Circle Line, an autobiographical tale of bohemians, punk, the King’s Road in the 1970s and family.

The historian follows the trail of Welsh drovers down through the centuries as they moved cattle and sheep to the ever-expanding markets of England. And he offers a detailed walks guide for those keen to discern their own drove roads.

Nothing can quite prepare you for the hells and joys of fatherhood, but Brian’s fabulous stories will be a consolation, a guide and a friendly treasure.

Fuller studies the phenomenon of mass participation in reading events, through book clubs, city reads, festivals and online reading communities.

We celebrate the 60th anniversary of Hillary and Tenzing’s ascent on 29 May 1953 with a showing of images from the archive of the team’s photographer George Lowe.

The novelists discuss the way in which fiction illuminates the history, the geography and the spirit of place.

In association with Commonwealth Writers.

In Hudson’s Dazzle, high society intrigues while big-game tuna fishing off the Scarborough coast in the 1930s. Smith’s Dream On is a black comedy/noir thriller meshing lives and legends of South Wales.

There are many simple, low-cost ways to reduce the human and financial cost of natural disasters such as floods. What are they, and how can we finance these vital climate change defences? Concern Universal’s James Treasure-Evans is joined by Gareth Williams of Caplor Energy. Chaired by The Telegraph’s Louise Gray.

Join us in making Mini Spanish Omelettes, Welsh Sushi, Giant Chocolate Waffles, Sicilian Chicken and No Bake Cheesecakes. The menu will be rotated between sessions on a daily basis.

5–8 years – children must be accompanied

Join in storytelling, songs and games for a fun-filled time with your favourite mouse.

Duration 45 mins.

3–7 years

Join the team from OKIDO for a mixture of crafts and games taken from My Big World. Encounter different plants and animals, explore exciting locations around the world and even visit outer space! A fun and interactive first look at geography and science.

Duration 45 mins.

4+ years

See also event HF103

Roald Dahl Funny Prize-winner Jamie Thomson is joined by two top funny talents, Mark Lowery and Sarah McIntyre. Come and share the jokes!

Duration 60 mins.

9+ years

The Iraq War introduces you to Saddam Hussein’s foreign minister, his intelligence chiefs, the general who had charge of destroying his Weapons of Mass Destruction – plus Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Tony Blair, Jack Straw and more. A preview of the BBC2 series from Orwell Prize-winner Norma Percy and Brook Lapping, the team that made Iran & The West. Norma Percy talks to Alex Holmes, writer and director of House of Saddam.

Please arrive in good time for the start of this event; we regret that latecomers may not be permitted entry.

Hay Castle, once a great medieval stronghold, is alive with possibilities once again. Find out more with Mary Morgan, head of Hay Castle Friends, on a guided tour of the 12th Century keep, Jacobean mansion and Victorian service buildings. Includes tea and a bun.

Please note: There are two tours, one starting at 10am and one starting at 11am. Please book for the tour you wish to attend, using the variant boxes below. 

The writer discusses the film adaptation of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, her screenplay for Joe Wright’s Pride And Prejudice movie and her new novel Heartbreak Hotel in which the irrepressible Russell ‘Buffy’ Buffery has upped sticks from London and moved to a decrepit B&B in rural Wales. He needs to fill the beds, and what better way than with ‘Courses for Divorces’…?

The peerless sketch writer yarns 20 Glorious Years In Parliament.

The new book from the author of The Old Ways. In 2005 Macfarlane and Roger Deakin travelled to explore the holloways of South Dorset’s sandstone. They found their way into a landscape of shadows, spectres and great strangeness. Six years later, after Deakin’s early death, Macfarlane returned to the holloway with the artist Stanley Donwood and writer Dan Richards.

In a world of rapid change and global, multicultural influences we explore the place that landscape, history and nature play in people’s sense of Britishness today.