Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2026 will offer a world of different experiences, as writers, artists and world-changers mark the changing seasons with new ideas, 26-29 November.
The full programme is online now at hayfestival.org with early booking for Members. General sale begins this Saturday 26 September.
Taking place in the grounds of Hay Castle in the heart of “the world’s first booktown” Hay-on-Wye, Wales, more than 60 artists will participate over four days.
The full line-up, announced today, includes novelist Kate Mosse; poets Simon Armitage, Owen Sheers and Alex Wharton; historian David Olusoga; singer-songwriter David Gray; Radio 1 DJ Greg James; actors Lucian Msamati, Caroline Quentin, Maxine Peake and Greg Wise; comedians Lucy Porter and Kiri Pritchard-McLean; physicist Jim Al-Khalili; journalists Luke Harding and Charlotte Higgins; former Scotland First Minister Humza Yousaf; former Buddhist monk Sam Yo; Witches of Scotland campaigners Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi; psychotherapist Julia Samuel; potter Keith Brymer Jones; and curators of the British Museum’s Bayeux Tapestry exhibition Sue Brunning and Lloyd de Beer.
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 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 27 November.
Select events will be live-streamed to audiences around the world through the Festival’s online pass, on sale now at hayfestival.org/onlinepass
A free KS1 Programme for Schools will open Hay Festival Winter Weekend thanks to funding from The Moondance Foundation. Events will offer Primary School pupils from state schools in Wales free access to Festival events over two days, part of a wider outreach project throughout the autumn and into the New Year.
Hay Festival Global CEO Julie Finch said:
“The changing seasons give us permission to pause and slow down. As we head into our 40th year and reflect on the past four decades of our charity’s impact, Hay Festival Winter Weekend offers us an opportunity to gather around stories with warmth, humour and generosity and reflect on the rapidly changing world around us in an intimate, cosy setting. Join us this winter and experience a world of different ideas.”
Programme in detail
New books lead Winter Weekend with writers Liv Little (Bitter Melon), Olly Smith (Death by Noir), Cathy Rentzenbrink (The Agatha Christie Cure), Matthew Sweet (The Great Dictator: A Life of Barbara Cartland), Kate Mosse (Autumn: The Story of a Season), Nick Harkaway (The Taper Man); former Buddhist monk Sam Yo (The Monk’s Mindset); and physicist Jim Al-Khalili (On Time); Nicholas Jubber delves into Monsterland: A Journey Around the World’s Dark Imagination; while actor Maxine Peake shares the titles that have shaped her in the Festival’s My Life in Books session.
This year’s programme debates a plethora of different perspectives as journalists and writers David Olusoga, Charlotte Higgins and Symeon Brown review the biggest news stories of the year in News Review; Scotland’s former First Minister Humza Yousaf talks about his family’s evacuation from Gaza; the Guardian’s international correspondent Luke Harding examines how Trump and Putin have changed the world; journalist Stephen Sackur explores investigations that shook the world; and culture writer Charlotte Higgins discusses art in a time of war (Ukrainian Lessons).
History is reimagined as graphic novelist Jack Lewis and poet Owen Sheers honour the victims of the tragic Aberfan Disaster 60 years on; while curators Sue Brunning and Lloyd de Beer discuss the Bayeux Tapestry’s blockbuster return to Britain after 1,000 years; academic Maryam Aslany explores the peasantry as the centre of our global history; local historian Heather Hurley revisits the world of Herefordshire steam trains; and broadcaster Will Millard uncovers OS Mapping Britain.
Pleasurable pastimes come to the fore as potter Keith Brymer Jones reveals the unexpected history of pots and potters; author Matthew Myerscough discovers the restorative power of fossil-hunting (In Search of Sea Dragons); The Hebridean Baker reveals what makes a Scottish Christmas; while chef Thomasina Miers shares the secrets behind Mexican Feast.
Green stories are nurtured in conversations as actor Caroline Quentin talks to broadcaster Kate Humble about her new book (Drawn to Nature); environmental damage is discussed by journalists Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor; and the sounds of the natural world are re-envisioned through music with zoologist Justin Anderson’s Animal Disco: Wilderness Sounds.
Women’s stories take centre stage as Witches of Scotland campaigners Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi investigate the history of the Witch Trials with How to Kill a Witch; while founder of Sex Talks Emma-Louise Boynton, columnist Kate Lister and adult-film director Erika Lust explore Lust, Flick, Pleasure: Female Desire; meanwhile laughter can be found in Middle-Aged Women Get Sh*t Done with comedians Lucy Porter and Kiri Pritchard-McLean.
There’s festive fun as Radio 1 DJ Greg James and author Chris Smith offer up their new children’s book, Secret Santa; Reverend Kate Bottley and author Cole Moreton talk The Faith Almanac; TV presenter Kate Bliss and author Susan Stokes-Chapman discuss The Twelve Days of Christmas; and a literary reimagining of the of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols with Kate Mosse, Liv Little, Larry Lamb, Owen Sheers and Simon Armitage offers festive cheer.
Music resonates throughout Hay Castle and St Mary’s Church with pianist Andrew Zolinsky and Llareggub Brass Brand; while journalist Elizabeth Alker joins Jude Rogers on how 20th-century classical music shaped pop; Grammy nominee singer-songwriter David Gray and conservationist Mary Colwell explore nature through an evening of music and conversation; and for those who dare, there’s a screening of the 1925 silent horror film The Phantom of the Opera, accompanied live by organist Father Richard Williams.
Family, grief and memory are woven into the programme as Olivia Harrison, widow of Beatles member, George, shares photos and stories from his posthumous collection, Third Eye; actor Greg Wise launches his new book Grief Talking; documentary-maker Eamon Bourke premières The Solway, documenting the discovery of his late mother’s family archives plus a Q&A with psychotherapist Julia Samuel; poet Luke Wright delves into his memoir (Later Life) of foster care and adoption; The Maclean Brothers tell the story of their 3,000 mile row across the Atlantic Ocean; and Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules talks to journalist Charlotte Higgins about four generations of one extraordinary family.
The poet laureate in addition gives voice to the ancient poem Gilgamesh; while Children’s Laureate, Alex Wharton, shares Bright Lives: Poetry Celebrating Historical Black Figures in Wales; and actors Lucian Msamati and Greg Wise alongside theatre director Dominic Dromgoole spotlight British and Irish playwrights from the past century, including Samuel Beckett.
Supported by funding from The Moondance Foundation, a free KS1 Programme for Schools will open Winter Weekend with two days of talks and workshops from Laura Dockrill, Petr Horáček, Alex Wharton and Sophy Henn for Primary School students from four state schools in Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales.
The Festival will draw on public nominations to award the Hay Festival Book of the Year following past wins for Anthony Shapland’s A Room Above A Shop, 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.
Hay Festival celebrates its 40th spring edition in 2027, Thursday 27 May–6 June.
Hay Festival, one of the world’s leading cultural charities, was founded in Hay-on-Wye, Wales in 1987, providing audiences with dynamic platforms to come together to share ideas, different perspectives and provoke conversations that can create a better world.
Speaker comments
‘What a thrill as the chill sets in to get lost in adventures galore in a veritable literary winter wonderland - for a whole weekend? I’m honoured to bring and share some tales of my own and cannot wait to be filled with cheer and magic from the tales of others and, also, to prove conclusively that we can in fact make Hay when the sun isn’t shining, too. See you there!’
– Lucian Msamati
“I am incredibly excited to be back at the Hay Festival Winter Weekend. Where better to discover a new book, encounter a new idea and be inspired by the rich and varied stories that can take you on a journey somewhere unexpected? Come and make Hay Festival a highlight of your winter and not just your spring.”
– Tori James
“I’m so looking forward to bringing a wee bit of Scottish Christmas cheer to Hay Festival Winter Weekend! It’ll be my first book event in Wales, and I can’t think of a lovelier way to celebrate than sharing the recipes, stories and traditions from the Scottish islands. Expect a warm Hebridean welcome - and perhaps a song or two.”
– The Hebridean Baker (Coinneach MacLeod)
“The curlew has one of the most evocative calls in nature, yet it is rapidly disappearing from our landscapes. Through conversation and live music, David and I will follow its journey from the winter coast to where it breeds in fields and moors in the spring. David’s beautiful, emotional music has a rare power to connect us to nature, and we're delighted to bring this special evening to Hay.”
– Mary Colwell
“I’m delighted to be returning to Hay Festival. Stories can help us make sense of experiences that are often very difficult to put into words, and both Greg Wise’s Grief Talking and Eamon Bourke’s The Solway explore love, loss and grief with great humanity. We can see ourselves better through them. I’m really looking forward to the conversations they will open up.”
– Julia Samuel
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be taking part in such an iconic festival.”
– Kate Lister
“This will be my first ever Hay Festival Winter Weekend, Hay is such a special place and I’m looking forward to reading and meeting the children, sharing stories and celebrating the magic of creativity.”
– Laura Dockrill