Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2025 will offer a world of different experiences, as writers, artists and world-changers mark the changing seasons with new ideas, 26–30 November.
Taking place in the grounds of Hay Castle in the heart of “the world’s first booktown” Hay-on-Wye, Wales, more than 80 artists feature on the programme with focuses on the new role of storytelling; impacts of big tech, democracy, and the new world order.
Headline guests include political activist Maria Alyokhina; actors Joanna Page and Jonathan Pryce; novelists Mick Herron,Sebastian Faulks, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Carlos Fonseca, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Cynan Jones, Nikita Gill and Natalie Haynes; lexicographer Susie Dent; comedians Olga Koch, Mark Watson, Rachel Parris and Marcus Brigstocke; politicians Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Kim Leadbeater; journalists Imran Khan, Jehan Alfarra and Lyse Doucet; writer Jung Chang; documentary maker Jamie Tahsin; chef Raymond Blanc; artist Charlie Mackesy; poets Hollie McNish and Mererid Hopwood; physicists Paul Davies and Vlatko Vedral; criminal psychologist Julia Shaw; historians Alison Weir,Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga; and Fun Lovin’ Criminals frontman Huey Morgan.
The full programme is online now at hayfestival.org with three days’ exclusive booking for Hay Festival Members, Patrons, Benefactors and Chair’s Circle members. General sale begins this Friday 26 September.
Launching the best new fiction and non-fiction, the programme will see participants engage with some of the biggest questions of our times, while spreading festive joy in candle-lit storytelling, workshops, and one-off music and comedy performances.
Over the Festival weekend, the Welsh booktown’s independent shops, cafés and markets offer a warm welcome to Festivalgoers within the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, with added sparkle coming from the Christmas lights switch-on, Friday 28 November.
Select events will be livestreamed to audiences around the world through the Festival’s online pass, on sale now at hayfestival.org/onlinepass.
A free Schools Programme will open Hay Festival Winter Weekend thanks to new funding from the Hodge Foundation. Events will offer Primary School pupils from state schools in Wales access to Festival events, part of a wider outreach project throughout the autumn.
Hay Festival Global CEO Julie Finch said:
“A new chapter starts now! Here is a programme packed with big ideas and new forms of storytelling to meet the challenges of our times. Hay Festival Winter Weekend offers an escape from the day-to-day, inviting audiences into a space where imaginations can roam and curiosity can thrive. Join us!”
This project is part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, supported by Powys County Council.
Programme in depth
Award-winning storytelling leads the programme as Slow Horses author Mick Herron joins star of the recent Apple+ TV series Jonathan Pryce on the art of adaptation; novelists including Sebastian Faulks (Fires Which Burned Brightly), Oyinkan Braithwaite (Cursed Daughters), Cynan Jones (Pulse) launch new work; writers Nikita Gill (Hekate: The Witch) and Natalie Haynes (No Friend to This House) discuss interpreting Greek myths; and poet Hollie McNish shares her latest collection, Virgin.
Literary anniversaries and bookish wonders delight as historian John Mullan joins Austentatious star Rachel Parris to celebrate 250 years of Jane Austen; lexicographer Susie Dent shares Words for Life with BBC Wales presenter Gary Raymond; Hereford's Five Seasons Press celebrates 50 years of Glenn Storhaug’s book making; and writer Hollie Starling introduces Bog People: A Working-Class Anthology of Folk Horror before an evening of folk music from Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk.
As political orders continue to shift globally, the programme explores big tech’s impacts on society and the future of democracy in conversations with former global affairs lead at Meta, Nick Clegg; politician Vince Cable; MP Kim LeadbeaterMBE; and activist and Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina with investigative journalist Oliver Bullough; documentary maker Jamie Tahsin talks Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate’s Manosphere; and some of Wales’ leading political journalists – Teleri Glyn-Jones, Will Hayward, Ruth Mosalski and Rob Osborne – explore the rise of Reform.
Hay Festival Global’s South to North Conversations continue to give voice to ideas from the Global South with journalists Lyse Doucet and Sune Engel Rasmussen on the future of Afghanistan; writer Jung Chang on the changing relationship between China and the West; and writers Carlos Fonseca and Oscar Guardiola-Rivera join Hay Festival International Director Cristina Fuentes La Roche to mark 20 years of Hay Festival’s work in Latin America with a showcase of LatAm voices.
Big ideas take centre-stage as new thinking comes to the fore in conversations with scientists Paul Davies and Vlatko Vedralon the latest in quantum physics; criminal psychologist Julia Shaw on Green Crime: Inside the Minds of the People Destroying the Planet, and How to Stop Them; journalists Imran Khan, Jehan Alfarra and Lyse Doucet on possible solutions to the crisis in trust for today’s media; and James Fox talks Britain's Vanishing Trades.
History speaks to the present in conversation with historian Tim Bouverie on Allies at War: The Politics of Defeating Hitler; Vikki Heywood on Miss Veal and Miss Ham; Alison Weir on Queens at War: England’s Medieval Queens; and Sarah Churchwell and David Olusoga mark 250 years of American independence; while James Hanning narrows his gaze on Hay-on-Wye with The Bookseller of Hay: The Life and Times of Richard Booth.
Our relationship to the natural world is explored and celebrated in conversations with broadcaster Hamza Yassin on his memoir, Homeward Bound; Arifa Akbar on her nocturnal musings, Journey into the Night; actor, artist, and conservation activist James Murray looks at the current crisis facing our rivers; a series of walks encourage audiences to connect with the outdoors.
There’s seasonal joy and inspiration to be found as Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page shares stories from her career; artist Charlie Mackesy shares Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm with poet Mererid Hopwood; comedians Marcus Brigstocke and Rachel Parris present a live edition of their new podcast, How Was It For You?, with special guest Mark Watson; comedian Olga Koch offers up her new show; local artist Layla Robinson delivers a festive craft demo; chef Raymond Blanc shares lessons on how to be a perfect host; John Turrell talks the history of games; and Queen of Shops Mary Portas talks I Shop, Therefore I am.
Music rings out across the Festival weekend as performances in St Mary’s Church include guitarist Michael Poll and Father Richard with his silent film performance; Fun Lovin’ Criminals frontman Huey Morgan performs; music groups Kairos, South Powys Youth Music, Olivia Preye, Hay Community Choir, Hay Shantymen, Cantorion Y Gelli, Decis, Got 2 Sing and Innominati entertain Festivalgoers with a series of free pop-up sets around town; and acoustic trio Thrill Collins lead a closing night concert.
After a transformative 12 months at Hay Festival Global, CEO Julie Finch invites the public to share their visions for the Festival’s future in a free open forum event.
Extra sparkle to live events comes from the town’s Market Square as a special guest turns on the Christmas lights, Friday 28 November, an annual town highlight.
And the Festival will draw on public nominations to crown the Hay Festival Book of the Year following past wins for Chloe Dalton’s Raising Hare; Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry, Deborah Levy’s Real Estate, Dara McAnulty’s Diary of a Young Naturalist, Hallie Rubenhold’s The Five, and Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane’s The Lost Words.
Meanwhile, a free Schools Programme will open Hay Festival Winter Weekend thanks to new funding from the Hodge Foundation. Events will offer Primary School pupils from state schools in Wales access to Festival events featuring writers Rob Biddulph, Candy Gourlay, Simon Mole and Gecko.
Find out more here.
