Music

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.

Experience an absorbing evening of sophisticated modern jazz, elevated by the atmospheric acoustic and Georgian Gothic setting of St Mary’s Church in Hay-on-Wye.

Led by guitarist and composer Will Barnes, the quartet features pianist Jack Gonsalez, bassist Aidan Thorne and drummer James Batten – an ensemble recognised for its tight chemistry and compelling live performances. Their sound pays homage to jazz greats such as Wes Montgomery, Pat Metheny and Oscar Peterson, while forging a distinct voice of their own. Outside the Light is their second album.

An unforgettable celebration of the era-defining music of Amy Winehouse, performed by her original band. Led by Winehouse’s long-term musical director and close friend, Dale Davis, and fronted by his own choice of singer, the Amy Winehouse Band keeps alive her spirit, legacy and distinctive sound. With stunning on-screen visuals and unique footage, this immersive experience features Winehouse’s biggest hits. A truly special night out for fans.

Celebrate and support young Welsh musical talent at this 20-minute open-air performance between events. South Powys Youth Music is a local student ensemble, run as a charity to provide children and young people in Brecon and Radnorshire with music lessons, helping them develop skills to fulfill their musical and personal potential.

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Got 2 Sing Choir perform uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies, with plenty of fun and laughter.

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Got 2 Sing Choir perform uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies, with plenty of fun and laughter.

The virtuosic GBSR Duo, along with Taylor MacLennan on flute, play ‘Crippled Symmetry’ by American composer Morton Feldman. ‘Crippled Symmetry’ takes the form of a quiet, slowly moving, hypnotic sound world – this evening event in the great acoustic of St Mary’s Church in Hay will take you to another dimension!

The GBSR Duo are Siwan Rhys (piano and celeste) and George Barton (percussion), two of the UK’s finest young contemporary chamber instrumentalists. They have built their reputation on a combination of exceptional interpretations of the existing piano-percussion repertoire, committed performances of ambitious new commissions, and inventive collaborations. Taylor MacLennan is one of the leading flautists of his generation, renowned for his control, creativity and versatility.

This conversation between two icons makes for an unmissable evening of vivid reflections on the 1990s rock scene and what it means to be a woman in music. Melissa Auf der Maur, former bassist of rock bands Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins, and Skunk Anansie’s lead singer Skin come together for a frank and fascinating discussion that is a must-see for music fans. The pair discuss their memoirs, the cost of fame and influence, and their groundbreaking successes, with Tiffany Murray, author of My Family and Other Rock Stars.

Auf der Maur’s Even the Good Girls Will Cry: My 90s Rock Memoir recounts her story, including how she joined Hole, fronted by Courtney Love, shortly after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and Hole’s previous bassist. Skin, author of It Takes Blood and Guts, is one of the most influential women in British rock, has headlined Glastonbury and was championing LGBTQ+ rights at a time when few artists were out and gay.

Two voices, one upbringing and songs that feel like home. A fabulous opportunity to experience a unique evening of music from brother and sister Johnny and Lillie Flynn. Both are actors and musicians in their own right, but here perform together with harmonies shaped by a shared childhood filled with the same family records spinning in the background.

As they put it themselves: “We’ve always sung together. And we want to celebrate that in a simple way – with songs we love and the way our voices come from the same place and the same memories.” What they bring to the stage is gentle, unfussy and full of heart – a harmony that is grown, lived-in and deeply personal.

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Abergavenny’s friendly Synergy choir has evolved a barbershop-style male, close-harmony a cappella. They sing material from across the 20th century, from the melancholic tones of ballad standards to their own take on upbeat numbers with questionable choreography!

Synergy has a winning track record at the prestigious Cornwall International Choral Festival (winning UK Best Small Choir three times) and the Bangor International Choral Competition, coming away with several first and second prizes, Best Visiting Choir and Best Musical Piece.

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Abergavenny’s friendly Synergy choir has evolved a barbershop-style male, close-harmony a cappella. They sing material from across the 20th century, from the melancholic tones of ballad standards to their own take on upbeat numbers with questionable choreography!

Synergy has a winning track record at the prestigious Cornwall International Choral Festival (winning UK Best Small Choir three times) and the Bangor International Choral Competition, coming away with several first and second prizes, Best Visiting Choir and Best Musical Piece.

Enjoy an enchanting afternoon at Hay Festival as author and playwright Michael Morpurgo is joined by actress Jenny Agutter and the world-renowned Brodsky Quartet in a unique celebration of music, poetry and the natural world.

In this one-off performance, Morpurgo brings us poetry inspired by the seasons, and blends it with lyrical narration alongside Agutter and a stunning interpretation of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. This is perfect for those who appreciate the meeting of story, music, and landscape – a performance that celebrates the harmony between art and nature.

Enjoy a 20-minute open-air performance between events and listen to some traditional and modern songs from the sea, full of wit, warmth and gusto. Hay-on-Wye’s very own sea shanty crew, Hay Shantymen, have been performing since 2018 at international shanty festivals such as Falmouth and Port Isaac, and have raised over £20,000 for their chosen charity, the RNLI. Their arrangements and harmonies are stronger than ever – always sung with a sense of lively, engaging friendship.

Enjoy a 20-minute open-air performance between events and listen to some traditional and modern songs from the sea, full of wit, warmth and gusto. Hay-on-Wye’s very own sea shanty crew, Hay Shantymen, have been performing since 2018 at international shanty festivals such as Falmouth and Port Isaac, and have raised over £20,000 for their chosen charity, the RNLI. Their arrangements and harmonies are stronger than ever – always sung with a sense of lively, engaging friendship.

Experience the divine acoustic in the late Georgian Gothic ambience of St Mary’s Church in Hay-on-Wye. This service of Choral Evensong for the Feast of Pentecost is an opportunity to enjoy beautiful music in an historic and much-loved community setting. The combined choir comprises singers from the nearby churches of St Mary’s in Ross-on-Wye and Holy Trinity in Hereford, and children from Clyro Church in Wales primary school.

The service is led by Father David Wyatt, Vicar for Hay, Llanigon, Clyro & Capel-y-Ffin in the Black Mountains Ministry Area. Political sketch writer and journalist Quentin Letts, who lives in rural Herefordshire, and whose latest novel is appropriately named Nunc!, will provide a short homily.

Chosen by the public for 15 consecutive years as their ‘Best Brazilian Musician’, Leo Gandelman is one of the country’s most influential musicians for his genre-surpassing versatility that appeals to fans of jazz, pop, classical and hip-hop.

Accompanied by a trio of outstanding musicians who have played together for over a decade, he brings us an evening of emotive, expressive music that will transport you to the tropics of Brazil. With Eduardo Farias on keyboards, André Vasconcellos on bass and Cassius Thepersson on drums.

A BBC Radio 3 lunchtime concert series exploring the music of Edvard Grieg and others. This first of three recitals recorded for broadcast features Claire Booth (soprano) and Anna Tilbrook (piano), who perform a programme including Grieg, Delius and Ravel.

Programme:

Percy Grainger Bold William Taylor

Percy Grainger The Power of Love (Danish Folk-Music Suite)

Edvard Grieg The Mountain Maid (Hautussa), Op 67

Agathe Backer Grøndahl Siklebækken, Op 30 No 9

Frederick Delius Seven Danish Songs (excerpt)

Maurice Ravel Cinq mélodies populaires grecques

Two lifelong fans of The Beatles come together to share their love of the band and reflect on its enduring influence on popular culture. Broadcaster Samira Ahmed’s first book A Hard Day’s Night is a look at how the 1964 film captures the band’s charisma and the shifting cultural landscape of 1960s Britain. Fellow broadcaster Stuart Maconie has written With a Little Help from Their Friends, an epic tale of the people who made the band who made Britain, interspersed with his own experiences, encounters and conversations. This celebratory event is perfect for superfans of the band.

Spend an uplifting evening with the fresh sound and strong female presence of Marshall Gilmour Webbs – a group formed of Louise Marshall (the celebrated vocalist from Jools Holland’s Orchestra), Romany Gilmour (hit single ‘Between Two Points’) and Hattie & Charley Webb (known for their work with Leonard Cohen and Tom Petty).

Their swelling vocals, ethereal harmonies and eclectic instrumentation bring new perspectives to the music of The Roches, Dolly Parton, Billy Joel, Minnie Riperton and more, along with their own original songs written collaboratively from Louise’s living room.

A BBC Radio 3 lunchtime concert series exploring the music of Edvard Grieg and others. This second of three recitals recorded for broadcast features Alexander Ullman (piano), who performs a programme including Grieg and Wagner.

Programme:

Edvard Grieg, trans. Alexander Ullman Peer Gynt Suite No 1, Op 46

Edvard Grieg Lyric Pieces Book 10, Op 71

Richard Wagner, trans. Franz Liszt Tannhäuser Overture, S. 442

Online: A BBC Radio 3 lunchtime concert series exploring the music of Edvard Grieg and others. This last of three recitals recorded for broadcast features Guy Johnston (cello) and Mishka Rushdie Momen (piano), who perform a programme including Grieg and Britten.

Programme:

Benjamin Britten Sonata in C for cello and piano, Op 65

Edvard Grieg Cello Sonata in A minor, Op 36

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Kairos is a duo of harp and flute/recorders from Oxfordshire, comprising Anna Lockett and Jill Horner. They enjoy making music in a variety of genres, and share a passion for using music therapeutically in the community. As Kairos, they explore creating their own folk arrangements and compositions, and experiment with arranging romantic, baroque and contemporary repertoire.

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Kairos is a duo of harp and flute/recorders from Oxfordshire, comprising Anna Lockett and Jill Horner. They enjoy making music in a variety of genres, and share a passion for using music therapeutically in the community. As Kairos, they explore creating their own folk arrangements and compositions, and experiment with arranging romantic, baroque and contemporary repertoire.

An interactive evening of storytelling, song and performance from Dead Ringers actor Jess Robinson, as she brings to life the wartime diaries of her grandmother, Rosi, and her own early journals. She reads extracts from both diaries, interwoven with short live performance moments, to illustrate how stories of survival and identity create bonds across the generations. The event ends with a rendition of ‘The Impossible Dream’, a song that deeply connects her to her grandmother.

Come and celebrate Wales, land of legend and song, known for its stories that span countless generations – and a place where, out of this rich heritage, new tales are always being told.

In this unique and immersive evening of stories and song illuminating work steeped in Welsh culture and history, writers Tom Bullough, Lucie McKnight Hardy and Sadia Pineda Hameed tell new stories from Wales, including specially commissioned work from the latest issue of Folding Rock magazine. They are stories inspired by folklore, and salute today’s blooming creative landscape.

Featuring music by folk singer-songwriter Martha O’Brien, the evening is hosted by Folding Rock’s editor and co-founder Kathryn Tann. Folding Rock was founded in 2024 to help put Wales and Welsh writing on the UK map.

Following last year’s sold out scratch choir session, Juliet Russell returns to create a magical rendition of a classic pop banger with a room full of strangers in under 60 minutes. Uplifting, inclusive and hugely enjoyable, this is a session for singers, secret singers and ‘I’ve never sung in my lifers’.

With her warm and knowledgeable approach, Juliet is adept at bringing the best out of every singer, from the terrified to the confident. As a vocal coach and arranger on Netflix’s breakout hit show Building the Band, Juliet helped shape the voices that captivated millions globally. Come and be part of the magic. All are welcome, with no previous experience needed.

An exclusive opportunity to see two creative icons in conversation. Dexy’s Midnight Runners frontman, Kevin Rowland, speaks to best-selling novelist, Irvine Welsh, about his astonishing memoir. Rowland takes readers from the juvenile courts of his troubled teenage years to the success of Dexy’s Midnight Runners in the 1980s. With searing honesty, he also recounts the lows – including a serious cocaine addiction that left him bankrupt. Rowland and Welsh discuss resilience after adversity, iconic moments in British music, and how it feels to have had a major impact on our culture. For music lovers and pop culture buffs, as well as those who want a ring-side seat to lively and candid conversation.

Poet, performer and recording artist Kae Tempest is one of the most electrifying voices in British culture. With his albums, poetry and plays, he’s captured the pulse of a generation. Here, Kae introduces his long-awaited new novel, Having Spent Life Seeking, a moving story about family, forgiveness and belonging. This event offers an unmissable opportunity to hear one of our most vital creative voices as he reflects on a life spent seeking meaning through art. He talks to Guardian literary critic Chris Power.

Take a joyful and illuminating look at why we’re so deeply wired to respond to the human voice, especially when performing and listening live. Neuroscientist Professor Catherine Loveday reveals how singing actually works in the brain (did you know you’re more likely to remember vocal over instrumental music?); vocal coach Juliet Russell shares her insights on how singing aligns the body and mind; and psychologist Dr Sian Williams examines the relationship between voice, breath and emotional regulation.

Known to calm anxiety, sharpen memory and bring people together, the science behind singing is as intriguing as it is powerful. Combining psychology, performance and lived experience, this event explores how singing creates connection, improves memory and fosters wellbeing.

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.

Spend the afternoon in the company of Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, as she performs a series of reflective new tracks composed for her 13-year-old self. Finch’s Notes to Self is her first album of solo compositions in a decade, and contains accompanying letters that underscore her personal journey and experiences as a gay woman, a cancer survivor, a sister, daughter and mother.

Following her performance Finch, who served as Royal Harpist to HRH The Prince of Wales in her early 20s, will discuss the creative process and the realisation of her new work with actor, singer and writer Carys Eleri.

Join musician, actor and author Joey Batey for an evening of music and eerie folklore, diving into his new novel It’s Not a Cult before taking to the stage with his band The Amazing Devil for a special acoustic performance – their first live show in ten years.

In conversation with fellow musician, actor and artist Madeleine Hyland and framed by the Gothic arches of St Mary’s Church, Joey takes us into the darkly comic Northumbrian folk‑horror tale. We follow the story of a hopeless band who find their gigs taking on a terrifying new significance when they start to sing about Northern gods of mishap and mayhem.

After a brief interval, The Amazing Devil will sweep us into an exclusive set, bringing their lyrical alt‑folk sound and emotionally charged storytelling to the stage. Atmospheric and otherworldly, spend your Friday night with the creative forces of Joey Batey and Madeleine Hyland.

An intimate performance from the critically-acclaimed singer, Gwenno. Featuring music from her latest album, Utopia, Gwenno sings in Welsh and Cornish, creating a sound that’s both ethereal and powerful, and deeply rooted in cultural heritage. Her soundscapes fuse different musical genres into an immersive world of sound, captivating longtime fans and newcomers alike. An unforgettable event from one of the UK’s most original and compelling performers, in a night of music that will linger long after the final note.

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Got 2 Sing Choir perform uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies, with plenty of fun and laughter.

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Got 2 Sing Choir perform uplifting songs from top of the charts to golden oldies, with plenty of fun and laughter.

A chance to see an unforgettable and unique music-play about the life and work of the composer Andrzej Panufnik. Award-winning writer and actor Tama Matheson and award-winning pianist Clare Hammond deliver an emotional performance about Panufnik, one of the 20th century’s great artistic voices.

From Panufnik’s early musical awakening in war-torn Poland, to near-death encounters under Nazi occupation and oppression under Soviet rule, all culminating in a heart-stopping car chase, Matheson and Hammond perform a hilarious, heartbreaking and harrowing show about a life shaped by courage, loss and unbreakable artistic integrity.

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Love To Sing, returning to Hay Festival following their upbeat performance in 2025, is a double gold award-winning, inclusive popular music choir based in Pembridge, Herefordshire. The choir promotes togetherness, fun, belonging and a shared passion for singing.

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events. Love To Sing, returning to Hay Festival following their upbeat performance in 2025, is a double gold award-winning, inclusive popular music choir based in Pembridge, Herefordshire. The choir promotes togetherness, fun, belonging and a shared passion for singing.

Spend an hour with British pop icon George Michael through the eyes of award-winning journalist and author Sathnam Sanghera, and be guided through the life, music and enduring legacy of one of Britain’s most loved recording artists. This is far more than a musical celebration – it’s a sharp, thoughtful exploration of fame, identity, sexuality, immigration, and belonging in Britain’s recent history.

Through personal reflections and cultural insight, Sanghera reveals why George Michael’s story continues to resonate a decade after his death, and with humour, heart, and fresh perspective, he illuminates the man behind the legend, and the society that shaped him. Sanghera talks to journalist and writer Aasmah Mir.

A must-attend Hay Festival conversation for fans, music lovers and anyone captivated by culture, identity and the art of storytelling.

Discover Cantopop in this story of pop music, identity crisis and Hong Kong with singer-songwriter Emma-Lee Moss, aka Emmy the Great. She talks to the author of My Family and Other Rock Stars, Tiffany Murray, about how, as an 11-year-old in Hong Kong in the summer of 1995, she discovered Cantopop (Cantonese pop music) and fell in love with it. But when her family moved to England and she suppressed her Hong Kong heritage, she suppressed her love for Cantopop too. Moss shares how rediscovering the music helped her rediscover her Hong Kong identity, and sings some of her favourite songs. Moss is a British-Chinese writer and musician who sings in English, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Join this year’s four Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Poets for a première of new collaborations co-conceived with musician Kathryn Williams. The four poets – Karen McCarthy Woolf (England), Scott McKendry (Ireland), clare e potter (Wales) and Roseanne Watt (Scotland) – have produced works which recover myths from each corner of the British Isles.

McCarthy Woolf’s verse novel Top Doll was a Guardian Book of the Year and shortlisted for the TS Eliot and Jhalak Prizes. McKendry’s poems have appeared in the Poetry Review, Stinging Fly and more. In 2024 he was chosen by Paul Muldoon as Ireland Chair of Poetry’s Poet of Promise. Potter is a poetry therapy practice trainee, has translated for the National Poet of Wales, and was a Hay Festival Writer at Work. Watt is a writer and filmmaker from Shetland. Kathryn Williams is a singer-songwriter with 17 albums under her belt, and has been nominated for the Mercury music prize, among others.

Round off your evening with a fresh and lively dollop of funky brass music, invoking eclectic styles from New Orleans marching bands through to Bronx-inspired Hip Hop and closer-to-home Welsh language pop music.

Paying their debt to the age-old tradition of brass bands from the slate mining villages of North Wales, Llareggub Brass Band rise from the ashes of the past to deliver an energetic performance and enough hwyl to get you dancing!

Formed by band leader Owain Roberts in 2015, the band has released several studio albums and EPs. They have toured internationally, and won a BAFTA Cymru award for their documentary Cyrn ar y Mississippi (‘Horns on the Mississippi’).

Enjoy this 20-minute open-air performance between events, showcasing a diverse repertoire of feel-good contemporary tunes, pop, musical theatre, classical and more. Choral Diversity Choir firmly believes in the mantra ‘if you can talk, you can sing’, embracing the idea that everyone should have the opportunity to find their voice and experience the joy of singing. The Leominster-based choir was founded in 2016 under the direction of Beth Melling, and has raised over £25,000 for charitable causes.

Get ready to rhyme, rap and ROAR with laughter!

Join former Children’s Laureate and poetry icon Michael Rosen and award-winning rap teacher and viral sensation, MC Grammar, for a riotous celebration of words. These two masters of language pit Raps against Rhymes in a high-energy carnival of poetry, performance and pure fun. Perfect for families and anyone who loves wordplay. It will leave you smiling, inspired and maybe even freestyling your own ridiculous rhymes all the way home!

The first ever opportunity to see Welsh legend Aled Jones at Hay Festival in a hugely entertaining one-man show. Jones mixes his own behind-the-scenes stories from a remarkable career with never-before-heard music and the songs we love best. For the first time, this is Aled Jones’ story in his own words.