The UK’s biggest annual celebration of literature and arts returns once again to the bookish town. Laura Wood looks at what to expect.
Over the course of 10 days, 100,000-plus visitors will turn up at the Welsh border town to engage with the world’s greatest writers, poets, philosophers, historians and scientists. These take up the majority of the day activities, whereas the nights are devoted to music, comedy and film. This year’s lineup includes names such as Stephen Fry, Jacqueline Wilson, Ian McEwan, Jimmy Carr, Nigel Owens, Sam Warburton, Jo Brand, and The Waterboys.
This year, there’s a distinct running theme with a surfeit of environmentalist speakers, including Natalie Fee – environmental campaigner, author and founder of City To Sea, a charity focused on stopping city plastics at source reaching the ocean. With a funny and playful way of making issues relatable, we can expect her appearance to encourage audiences to change the world in ways you didn’t know were possible. Also billed are British environmentalist and author Tony Juniper, climate scientist Emily Shuckburgh and Dr Mariecia Fraser: with all of these names planting their wisdom into your ear, you might well go completely green by the week’s end.
There is a whole day dedicated to health and nutrition with talks from Simon Fairlie and Safia Minney, but surely one of the most exciting is an appearance from Anthony Warner, better known as ‘The Angry Chef’. Logically enough, he’ll be talking about what makes him angry – it’s not, apparently, when people insult his food.
Literature remains the vital kernel of Hay, of course, and the schedule does not disappoint. Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, celebrates the book’s 20th birthday with stories and songs based on its irrepressible legacy – join in the celebration and get a first look at her brand new stories before anyone else. At the other end of the spectrum, there are figures like Eric Ngalle Charles, a former Cameroonian refugee bringing his new play Death On The Third Floor to the festival. Beyond that, there’s talks with Newsnight host Emily Maitlis, as she describes the “imperfect art of making news”, and how she didn’t expect to spend three hours in a lift with Alan Partridge nor have the Dalai Lama tell her the story of his favourite toilet trip.
Music and comedy fills the night air, with Sara Pascoe, Ibibio Sound Machine and The Waterboys all performing live. Pascoe, following a sell-out UK tour, brings her show LadsLadsLads to the Hay Festival – presented as a thinking person’s stag do, one which she implores visitors not to bring a stag to. For those more in the mood to get their feet moving after a long-day of brainwork, Ibibio Sound Machine will be relaying their unique brand of West African funk and postpunk, whilst Mike Scott’s Waterboys will be opening proceedings on the first night. With the classic lineup in place, an effusive two-part set will span new and old material.
Haydays, running alongside the main event and covering the May half-term, allow schoolkids to get involved and inspired by literature. The aforementioned Jacqueline Wilson and Julia Donaldson form part of the Haydays programme, but there’s also events focused around how to become a ‘Fake News Detective’ (surely something that some parents could do with too…) and workshops on skills as varied as cookery, radio production and food foraging.
The Hay Festival is about celebrating our culture and recognising the voices that shaped the way we think. If you are looking to educate yourself on topics you may know nothing about, hearing from inspiring speakers, or are just looking to have a good weekend away, there are few more pleasant places than Hay.
Various venues, Hay-On-Wye, Thurs 23 May-Sun 2 June. Tickets: £5-£40 (depending on event). Info: www.hayfestival.com