Headliners include activists Yulia Navalnaya, Mary Trump, Caroline Darian; actors Jameela Jamil, Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry; artist Grayson Perry; writers Elif Shafak, Hanif Kureishi, Robert Harris, Sharon Horgan, Hisham Matar, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Madeleine Thien, Jesse Armstrong, and Eimear McBride.

Broadcasters at the festival include Susie Dent, Stacey Dooley, Lorraine Kelly, Katie Piper. Journalists Mona Chalabi, Jon Sopel; former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci; National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa; Poet Laureate Simon Armitage; chef Yotam Ottolenghi; historians Alice Roberts, Anne Applebaum, William Dalrymple, Kehinde Andrews, and Tom Holland will take to the stage.

Children’s favourites Jacqueline Wilson, Julia Donaldson, Cressida Cowell, Katherine Rundell, Liz Pichon will be in attendance, as will farmer James Rebanks; rugby star Dan Biggar; neuroscientist Russell Foster; musicians Paloma Faith, Billy Ocean and Brian Eno; comedians Miranda Hart, Sara Pascoe, Mark Watson, Katherine Ryan, Kiri Pritchard-McLean; and more...

Tickets are on sale now to Hay Festival Members, Patrons and Benefactors at hayfestival.org/hay-on-wye. General sale begins at noon this Friday 14 March.

Launching the best new fiction and non-fiction books, while sharing insights around the biggest global issues, the programme sees more than 600 artists, policy makers, pioneers and innovators take part from around the world.

Hay Festival Global CEO Julie Finch said: “Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen the speed at which our world can change and the high stakes for our times. Here’s a Hay Festival programme to tackle our shared challenges head-on with purpose and hope, celebrating new ideas and the power of storytelling to improve our lives.

“Woven throughout you’ll find our core themes for 2025 – the impacts of AI, health and wellbeing, new political orders and intergenerational exchanges – plus, as we celebrate 20 years since our first overseas event, we open more global exchange through new platforms. This is a festival for everyone. Join us in a world of different ideas.”

Hay Festival President Stephen Fry said: “I am delighted to be returning to Hay Festival – one of my favourite places on earth – to talk about my new book, Odyssey, and join debates and discussions across the Festival field. Besides the fun and joy of gathering to share stories, it is also the antidote to disinformation and division. There is space for everyone in this carnival of ideas and I hope to see you there.”

Events offer something for all, beginning with the free Schools Programme, 22–23 May, and including a vibrant strand for families throughout.

Special projects and new initiatives in the programme include:

Nights at the Festival are given over to great music, comedy and entertainment, while a host of free pop-up activities and performances will amaze audiences between sessions.

Events take place across eight stages in the free-to-enter Festival site – which offers a range of spaces for audiences to explore and enjoy, including the Bookshop, Wild Garden, Make & Take Tent, a host of exhibitors and market stalls, cafés and restaurants, and the Family Garden where young readers can kick-start their creative journeys – plus immersive performances all week at St Mary’s Church.

Collaborations with Arts Council England, the BBC, Black British Book Festival, Pen to Print, Living Knowledge Network, Reaching Wider and Inclusive Books for Children make this one of the most accessible Festival editions yet. And the Festival will be streamed live online with a selection of sessions continuing the commitment to digital accessibility.

Visit hayfestival.org/hay-on-wye to view detailed listings.

Exclusive conversations celebrate the soon-to-be-announced winners of the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, International Booker Prize and the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize; plus organisers of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and for Non-Fiction offer insights from behind the scenes.

There’s new fiction from Elif Shafak (There Are Rivers in the Sky); Alexander McCall Smith (Looking for You); Madeleine Thien (The Book of Records); Ruth Jones (By Your Side); Tessa Hadley (The Party); Ben Okri (Madame Sosostris); Rachel Joyce (The Homemade God); Joanne Harris (Vianne); David Szalay (Flesh); Fflur Dafydd (The House of Water); Mark Haddon (Dogs and Monsters); Eimear McBride (The City Changes its Face); Michelle de Kretser (Theory & Practice); Xiaolu Guo (Call Me Ishmaelle); Jojo Moyes (We All Live Here); Kit de Waal (The Best of Everything); Gill Hornby (The Elopement); Matt Haig (The Life Impossible); Holly Bourne (So Thrilled for You); Lorraine Kelly (The Island Swimmer); Tash Aw (The South); James Cahill (The Violet Hour); Hari Kunzru (Red Pill); Suzie Miller (Prima Facie); Clare Chambers (Shy Creatures); Emma Jane Unsworth (Slags); Saba Sams (Gunk); Andrew Miller (The Land in Winter); Jamie Morrison (Wonderboy and the Life & Times of Drewford Alabama); Tracy Chevalier (The Glassmaker); Anton Du Beke (Monte Carlo by Moonlight); Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize winner Ferdia Lennon (Glorious Exploits); plus Stephen Fry’s latest retelling of the Greek Myths, Odyssey.

Crime fiction and thrillers lead the billing in conversations with broadcaster Susie Dent and comedian Julian Clary on their crime novels; Nick Harkaway (Karla’s Choice); Reverend Richard Coles (A Death on Location); Jeremy Vine (Murder on Line One);Emma Stonex (The Sunshine Man); Javier Cercas with his Terra Alta crime trilogy; Chris Chibnall (Death at the White Hart); Ragnar Jónasson (The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer); SJ Parris (Traitor’s Legacy); Natasha Brown (Universality);Jonathan Coe (The Proof of my Innocence); Rob Rinder (The Protest).

Fiction in translation takes centre-stage in conversations with Cristina Rivera Garza (Death Takes Me); Mathias Énard (The Deserters); Lucía Lijtmaer (Cautery); Daniel Kehlmann (The Director); Małgorzata Lebda (Voracious); Guadalupe Nettel (The Accidentals); Agustina Bazterrica (The Unworthy); and writers Juan Gabriel Vasquez and Erna von der Walde join translator Daniel Hahn to celebrate a new translation of the Latin American classic, José Eustasio Rivera’s The Vortex.

Actor Jim Broadbent joins comic artist Dix to launch his new book, The Idris File; meanwhile, Nobel Prize-winning author Abdulrazak Gurnah joins fellow novelist Elif Shafak for a one-to-one conversation, and Kate Mosse joins fellow writer Jacqueline Wilson as she launches her first adult novel in a career spanning five decades.

Literary history and anniversary celebrations take to the stage as New Yorker staff writer Jon Lee Anderson joins novelist Silvana Paternostro to celebrate the centenary of Gabriel García Márquez’s iconic novel One Hundred Years of Solitude; Jeanette Winterson reflects on Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit at 40; and 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen, the London Review of Books revisits their controversial piece asking Was Jane Austen Gay? in a special event with music composed by Isobel Waller-Bridge.

The joy of reading is discussed as bookworm Lucy Mangan explores how reading can shape our lives; Waterstones Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce and child psychologist and neuroscientist Professor Sam Wass shares the importance to childhood development of reading and access to stories; actor Juliet Stevenson shares her life in books; and BookAid International’s Zainab Umar explores what is lost when people don’t have access to books with writers Sita Brahmachari and Kit de Waal.

Wales’ national story is interrogated by an all-star panel of writers including multidisciplinary artist Connor Allen, National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa, poet Gwyneth Lewis, author of On the red Hill Mike Parker and Bedwyr Williams, a Welsh artist, currently working on an artwork commission for National Trust Cymru.

On each day of the Festival a spotlight is dedicated to the best debut fiction, showcasing a selection of future award-winners alongside established authors, supported by the Hawthornden Foundation:

Thought leaders deliver headline think pieces throughout the Festival, tackling some of the biggest questions of our times, including two new lectures:

The inaugural George Alagiah Lecture in memory of the acclaimed journalist and Festival regular sees writer Hisham Matar delve into the world of Naguib Mahfouz, the first Arab winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The inaugural John Caldon Lecture in memory of the Flame Media founder sees the Pulitzer Prize-winning data journalist Mona Chalabi explore ideas of resistance.

Plus, returning annual lectures include environmental writer Mark Lynas on the threat of nuclear war in the British Pugwash Lecture.

A star-studded line-up of poets and performers read from Allie Esiri’s uplifting poem-a-

day collection in this gala event – 365 Poems for Life.

Leading poets share new work and old favourites, including Len Pennie (Poyums), Antony Szmierek (Roadmap), John Cooper Clarke (WHAT), Gillian Clarke (The Silence), Joelle Taylor (The Night Alphabet), Poet Laureate Simon Armitage (Dwell), Nick Makoha (The New Carthaginians), and Donna Ashworth (To the Women).

The joy of language is celebrated as poet Michael Rosen offers Rosen’s Almanac: Weird and Wonderful Words for Every day of the Year; Rupert Gavin talks Amorous or Loving? The Highly Peculiar Tale of English and the English; linguist and co-director of the Endangered Language Alliance Ross Perlin shares the fight to preserve endangered languages; and WritersMosaic director Colin Grant hosts a special salon event to celebrate the cultural impact of Black people who have lived outside of London, featuring author Lanre Bakare, singer and writer Pauline Black, poet Malika Booker, and musician Daudi Matsiko.

Journalists, commentators and world leaders take stock in the daily News Review each morning of the Festival, in partnership with the Independent. Guests include sustainability researcher Mike Berners-Lee, climate scientist Friederike Otto, historians David Olusoga and Kehinde Andrews, farmer Helen Rebanks, Paralympic athlete and presenter Tanni Grey-Thompson, comedian Sara Pascoe, filmmaker Havana Marking, philosopher AC Grayling, broadcasters Jon Sopel, Lyse Doucet and Anushka Asthana, publisher Sigrid Rausing, and lawyer Philippe Sands.

Activists and campaigners spotlight the power of individuals to make a difference: Yulia Navalnaya talks to Alastair Campbell about her late husband, the Russian opposition leader, anti-corruption campaigner and political prisoner Alexei Navalny; artists and activists Led by Donkeys share the journey of their five years of resistance against those in power; Kate Wilson talks to Oliver Bullough about Disclosure: Unravelling the Spycops Files; journalist Steve Crawshaw joins lawyer Helena Kennedy to explore the art of prosecuting the powerful; and capitalism is interrogated as New Yorker writer John Cassidy talks Capitalism and its Critics.

The fight for gender equality takes centre-stage as reproductive rights campaigners Kate Gilmore and Charlotte Proudman share their stories; domestic abuse campaigner David Challen and solicitor Harriet Wistrich talk coercive control; Everyday Sexismfounder Laura Bates talks The New Age of Sexism; Gisèle Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian shares I’ll Never call him Dad Again; actor Jameela Jamil talks toxic beauty standards; author and campaigner Katie Piper talks Still Beautiful: On Age, Beauty and Owning Your Space; and scientist and philosopher Cordelia Fine explores the gender divide in labour with Patriarchy Inc.

New political orders come under examination with historian Anne Applebaum on AUTOCRACY INC; former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci shares a candid look at the wheels of power in the US; author Pankaj Mishra on the post-Western world; writer Rebecca Solnit shares her new essay collection, No Straight Road Takes You There; journalist Omar El Akkad on One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This; Executive Director of the Food Foundation Anna Taylorconvenes a panel to explore food security; broadcaster Jeremy Bowen talks the Middle East; journalists Hind Hassan and Marcela Turati share stories from reporting on global conflicts; while fellow journalists Pankaj Mishra, Lydia Polgreen and Jonathan Shainin talk to Leonard Bernardo about how the media should approach the changing world, and what it can do to build back trust.

Personal stories from inside politics offer lessons for the future as Ed Davey shares Why I Care: And Why Care Matters; Mother of the House Diane Abbott offers A Woman Like Me; former UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt asks Can We Be Great Again?; former MP Michael Heseltine offers insights from his long life in politics; political sketch writer John Crace introduces his satirical memoir, Taking the Lead: A Dog at Number 10; chairman of the 1922 Committee Graham Brady talks Kingmaker: Secrets, Lies and the Truth about Five Prime Ministers; broadcaster Jon Sopel shares Strangeland: How Britain Stopped Making Sense; former Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard talks reimagining leadership; and Mary Trump, niece of President Trump, shares the inside story of one of America’s most consequential families.

Disinformation, conspiracy theories and their persistent rise are explored in conversations with journalists Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey; neuroscientist Leor Zmigrod looks at the effect our neural architecture has on our politics; documentary filmmaker Havana Marking presents her latest film, Undercover: Exposing the Far Right; and journalist McKay Coppins takes audiences inside the Murdoch dynasty following his reporting on Project Family Harmony.

The state of UK institutions is explored as biographer Anthony Seldon continues his series profiling British Prime Ministers with studies of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss; social scientist Danny Dorling looks at the life chances for Britain’s children today; architect, author and Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud, wildlife TV presenter, conservationist, author and campaigner Chris Packham, and the founder of the Community Planning Alliance, Rosie Pearson look at a common sense approach to tackling the country’s housing needs; travel writer Horatio Clare and investigative journalist Nicola Kelly speak about Britain’s intentionally hostile immigration system; and philosopher AC Grayling explores the culture wars.

The future of democracy is debated as Alastair Campbell talks But What Can I Do?; the 33rd and incumbent prime minister of Albania Edi Rama discusses the future of Europe; former UK Supreme Court judge Jonathan Sumption talks The Challenges of Democracy; journalist Ash Sarkar talks Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War; while political analysts Jane Davidson, Kevin Morgan, Jane Richardson and Derek Walker reflect on the 10th Anniversary of Wales’ Well-being of Future Generations Act.

Wales PEN Cymru present three writers on the concept of free speech with poet and academic Mererid Hopwood in conversation with researcher Faramerz Dabhoiwala, poet Menna Elfyn and novelist Burhan Sönmez.

Hay Festival continues its global collaboration with Ukraine’s leading book festival, Lviv BookForum, presenting a special event in memory of award-winning Ukrainian writer and human rights activist Victoria Amelina who was killed by a Russian missile in July 2023. Journalist Emma Graham-Harrison, historian Olesya Khromeychuk, lawyer Philippe Sands and translator Uilleam Blacker gather to celebrate Amelina’s life and work, including her final book, Looking at Women, Looking at War.

The latest environmental science, sustainable policies and creative responses to the climate crisis are brought into focus in Hay Festival Green under this year’s theme of Mobilising for the Future, prompting a shared call to action.

Environmental optimism takes centre-stage in conversations with writer Isabel Losada and astrophysicist-turned-journalist Sumit Paul-Choudhury; social geographer Danny Dorling and the climate activist Rob Hopkins take a hopeful look at the future; journalists Eliane Brum, Alessandra Sampaio and Jonathan Watts explore how to save the Amazon; and the Business for Social Responsibility team present a Sustainable Futures Lab on new narratives in our era of shock.

Climate scientists join artists in exploring the latest research in conversations with Mike Berners-Lee (A Climate of Truth); and Senior Urban Fellow at the LSE Cities Adam Greenfield joins CEO of progressive thinktank the New Economics Foundation Danny Sriskandarajah to discuss compound crises.

Storytellers share their perspectives as Mererid Hopwood – the Welsh poet, currently serving as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales – chairs a conversation with writers from Europe: Estonia’s Maarja Pärtna, Switzerland’s Gianna Olinda Cadonau and Catalonia’s Pol Guasch, exploring the climate emergency’s threat to society, landscape and minoritised languages. Meanwhile classicist Edith Hall offers a study of Homer’s Iliad in the context of our ecological disaster.

Green economics is interrogated in sessions with green industrialist Dale Vince on the role of business in environmentalism; historian and writer Philipp Blom talks Subjugate the Earth; and investment banker Ken Costa explores The Great Wealth Transfer.

The importance of nature to our well-being comes to the fore as writer Jay Griffiths shares How Animals Heal Us; ecological medicine specialist Dr Jenny Goodman, nature connections researcher and writer Durre Shahwar and Oxford Professor of Biodiversity Kathy Willis discuss nature for health; science communicator Sophie Pavelle shares lessons from symbiotic relationships; environmental justice researcher Jocelyn Longdon talks Natural Connection; while climate grief is explored in personal stories from writers Marianne Brown (The Shetland Way) and Alice Mah (Red Pockets); and foreign policy specialist Chloe Dalton shares her moving memoir, Raising Hare, which was named the Hay Festival Book of the Year 2024.

Our impact on the world around us is underscored as fashion and sustainability pioneer Kate Fletcher explores inter-relationships between clothing and the natural world; Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority’s Director of Nature Recovery and Climate Change, Simone Lowthe-Thomas, joins writer Robert Macfarlane and chair of the National Trust, René Olivieri, to explore the effects of human activity on rivers; campaigner Minette Batters, academic Tim Lang, food grower Claire Ratinon and farmer James Rebanks tell us what we should be worrying about when it comes to food; writers Tom Heap and Guy Shrubsole discuss the damage done to our land, and how we fix it to ensure we get the food, energy and housing we need; and journalist and activist Nicola Cutcher, pioneering barrister Monica Feria-Tinta, lawyer Paul Powlesland and international human rights lawyer Philippe Sands explore the idea of rights for nature.

After a popular inaugural year, Hay Festival Sports Day returns on Wednesday 28 May. Worlds collide as leading thinkers join sports stars for a showcase of creative talent and interactive free activities all around the Festival site, led by Fencing Cymru, Sports Powys and organisations from the Welsh Sports Association.

Welsh ruby star Dan Biggar talks to journalist Ross Harries about his illustrious career; legend and Test Match Special commentator Ebony Rainford-Brent talks to science communicator Adam Rutherford about her career; writer Jon Gower interviews American Football legend Raymond Chester; ParkRun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt shares the inside story of a global sensation; and sports writer Sam Peters and former rugby player Alix Popham talk about sport’s approach to head injuries.

Having lost the inaugural Hay Festival Cricket Match 2024 on the last ball, the Hay Festival All-Star team returns to face its nemesis – the local Hay Town team – umpired once again by actor and author Stephen Fry.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first female ascent of Mount Everest – by Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei – academic Dr Jenny Hall, historian Kate Nicholson and Everest summiteers Jo Bradshaw, Tori James and Rebecca Stephensgather to celebrate the women who are part of Everest’s legacy.

Leading travel and nature writers celebrate the natural world in conversations with Robert Macfarlane (Is a River Alive?); Levison Wood (The Great Tree Story); James Rebanks (The Place of Tides); and Rob Cowen (The North Road). Meanwhile four writers –Patrick Barkham, Nicola Chester, Paul Evans and Martha Kearney – gather to share Under the Changing Skies, collating contributions to The Guardian’s Country Diary.

Writers Jon Gower (Birdland) and Adam Nicolson (Bird School) share their love of birds; actor Martin Clunes shares Meetings With Remarkable Animals; principal scientist for the Vincent Wildlife Trust Jenny MacPherson talks Stoats, Weasels, Martens and Polecats; author Michael Morpurgo shares an ode to his favourite season, Spring; Lee Durrell, the wife of the late naturalist Gerald Durrell, introduces a new book about her husband, Myself & Other Animals; and writer Michael Malay shares his memoir meets natural history book, Late Light: The Secret Wonders of a Disappearing World.

Meanwhile, off-site Wayfaring Walks see writers, tree wardens and ecologists lead guided tours of the spectacular countryside with the Bannau Brycheingiog National Park team, including sessions led by broadcaster Kate Humble and writer Phoebe Smith, supported by Inntravel; Farm Walks give Festivalgoers a chance to get closer to local rural life; and a series of new walks curated by the Black British Book Festival offer an electrifying fusion of poetry, rap and the great outdoors.

Creatives, thinkers and activists share personal stories to inspire and challenge: novelist and playwright Hanif Kureishi talks Shattered; BRIT award-winning artist Paloma Faith shares Motherhood, Identity, Love and F*ckery; Gwyneth Lewis offers her memoir Nightshade Mother; writer Geoff Dyer launches Homework: A Memoir; podcaster Adam Buxton talks I Love You, Byeee; comedian Miranda Hart shares I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest With You; lawyer Sayeeda Warsi talks Muslims Don't Matter; Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood talks How to Disappear; journalist Shon Faye talks Love in Exile; Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason shares To Be Young, Gifted and Black; comedian Suzi Ruffell talks Am I Having Fun Now? Anxiety, Applause and Life’s Big Questions, Answered; podcaster Deborah Frances-White shares Six Conversations We’re Scared to Have; and comedians Kathy Lette and Ruby Wax discuss the joys of growing older.

Experts share the latest thinking on our brains as neuroscientist Russell Foster and comedian Ruby Wax discuss the importance of sleep; former FDA commissioner David A Kessler talks Diet, Drugs and Dopamine; brain scientist Gina Rippon shares The Lost Girls of Autism; neuroscientist Suzanne O’Sullivan shares The Age of Diagnosis: Sickness, Health and how Modern Medicine has Gone too Far; academic Simon Baron- Cohen and journalist John Harris discuss the science of neurodivergence; and neuroscientist Joseph Jebelli explores The Brain at Rest: Why Doing Nothing Can Change Your Life.

Health and wellbeing are explored through personal stories including actor Tuppence Middleton on her exploration of OCD, Scorpions; palliative care doctor Rachel Clarke offers The Story of a Heart; broadcaster Naga Munchetty on It’s Probably Nothing: Critical Conversations on the Women’s Health Crisis (and how to thrive despite it); comedian Robin Ince talks Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal; journalist Emma Barnett joins broadcaster Stacey Dooley to share experiences of motherhood; psychotherapist Juliet Rosenfeld (Affairs: True Stories of Love, Lies, Hope and Desire) explores the idea of fidelity; Mark Steel shares The Leopard in My House: One Man’s Adventures in Cancerland; while immunologist Daniel M Davis shares Self Defence: A Myth-busting Guide to Immune Health.

Two writers explore nocturnal institutions as Meg Clothier talks The Shipping Forecast and Dan Richards examines Overnight: Journeys, Conversations and Stories After Dark.

Philosophers and writers ponder the biggest questions of life and death and what it means to live well as Agnes Callard shares Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life; senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Christine Rosen talks The Extinction of Experience; journalist Oliver Burkeman shares Meditations for Mortals; Festival bookseller Gareth Howell-Jones presents his latest essay collection, Your Lowly Hedgehog Knows; neurosurgeon Henry Marsh joins journalist Sonia Sodha and barrister Alex Goodman KC to discuss assisted dying; writers Tom Phillips and Dorian Lynskey share perspectives on a possible apocalypse; and filmmaker Peter Godwin joins publisher Sigrid Rausing for an exploration of grief.

Faith comes to the fore as writer Lamorna Ash shares Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever: A new Generation’s Search for Religion; while psychologist Dr Julie Smith shares lessons for everyday problems from Open When: A Companion for Life’s Twists & Turns; and journalist Jane Garvey joins author Una McCormack and comedian Sara Pascoe with Woman’s Hour: Daily Meditations From Wise, Witty and Wonderful Women.

Meanwhile, early morning yoga and sound baths give Festivalgoers a meditative start to each day, led by wellbeing leaders and innovators.

Impacts of AI are explored from all angles as academics Richard and Daniel Susskind share How to Think About AI; Kamran Abbasi, editor of the British Medical Journal, talks to lawyer Susie Alegre and doctor Rachel Clarke about how AI could help healthcare; and IT expert Kaitlyn Regehr talks Smartphone Nation: Why We’re all Addicted to Screens and What we can do About it.

Leading scientists and mathematicians share lessons for our daily lives as Zahaan Bharmal talks The Art of Physics; sociologist Mikael Klintman shares Framing; mathematician Marcus du Sautoy talks Blueprints; David Spiegelhalter talks The Art of Uncertainty; head of the Institute for Manufacturing Tim Minshall talks Your Life is Manufactured; Richard Dawkins presents The Genetic Book of the Dead: A Darwinian Reverie; and Maggie Aderin-Pocock takes audiences on a tour of our solar system.

A unique science comedy fashion show sees New York Times bestselling authors Cat Bohannon and Dr Kelly Weinersmith discuss what it really means to live on Mars, and how women who might give birth and raise children on the planet could be affected.

Colonialism and its impacts on the world are explored as William Dalrymple talks The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World; Imaobong Umoren talks Empire Without End: A New History of Britain and the Caribbean; broadcaster Mishal Husain shares Broken Threads: My Family From Empire to Independence; and acclaimed authors and historians Atinuke, Joya Chatterji and Kavita Puri come together in a panel chaired by journalist Sonia Faleiro to explore how narratives of empire, migration and identity are reclaimed through storytelling.

Historians share lessons from key events as Simon Schama talks The Holocaust: 80 Years On; Frank Close marks the 80th anniversary of the atom bomb and looks at how an innocent and collaborative process was overwhelmed by the politics of the 1930s;Richard Overy shares Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima and the Surrender of Japan; James Holland (Normandy ’44) and Al Murray (Command) mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day; Max Hastings presents Sword: D-Day – Trial by Battle; Helen Carr revisits 14thCentury Britain with Sceptred Isle; Helen Castor talks The Eagle and the Hart; Dan Jones shares Henry V; Ben Macintyre presents The Siege: The Remarkable Story of the Greatest SAS Hostage Drama.

Unusual stories emerge from the past as Kate Summerscale shares The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place; human rights lawyer Philippe Sands talks 38 Londres Street; and historian Hallie Rubenhold offers her Story of a Murder.

Extraordinary people are remembered in conversations with June Sarpong on the legacy of the BBC’s first Black female broadcaster, Una Marson; Jonathan Watts shares The Many Lives of James Lovelock; presenter and author Philippa Forrester (Wild Woman) and journalism lecturer Sarah Lonsdale (Wildly Different) share their stories of women who choose to live wildly; Kehinde Andrews talks Nobody can Give you Freedom: The Real Mission of Malcolm X; and on the centenary of Malcolm X’s birth, WritersMosaic, in collaboration with the British Library Eccles Institute, brings together writers and performers – Ekow Eshun, Colin Grant, Bonnie Greer and Vanessa Kisuule – to explore his global legacy as a resistance leader, with music from Tony Njoku.

Sweeping histories of humanity inform the present as Jerry Brotton talks Four Points of the Compass: The Unexpected History of Direction; Alice Loxton offers Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives; while Simon Bradley leads a journey through two centuries of Britain’s railway history.

The ancient world is explored with fresh eyes as Tom Holland shares Lives of the Caesars; archaeologist Gabriel Zuchtriegel talks The Buried City: Unearthing the Real Pompeii; and comedian and classicist Natalie Haynes shares her study of the role of goddesses in Greek myth, Divine Might; while Amy Jeffs revisits the forgotten saintly heroes of Medieval Britain.

Local history comes to the fore as local historian Elizabeth Bingham and Hay resident Mary Morgan return to the Festival to share the stories of Hay’s remarkable watermills; and archaeologist Richard Hayman explores the history of the Welsh mountains.

The new MUBI cinema will host screenings of Bergman Island; How to Have Sex; Fallen Leaves; Queer; First Cow; Alcarràs; Dahomey; Decision to Leave; Aftersun; Priscilla; Perfect Days; Petite Maman; and The Worst Person in the World.

The art of adapting stories to the screen is explored as screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz discusses her adaptation of Deborah Levy’s Hot Milk; author Janice Hadlow (The Other Bennet Sister), screenwriter Sarah Quintrell (The Power) and executive producer and Bad Wolf co-founder Jane Tranter (His Dark Materials) discuss the challenges of reinterpreting Jane Austen for modern audiences; and novelist Robert Harris discusses the adaptation of his novel, Conclave.

Lessons from the world of TV and film are shared as writer Jesse Armstrong looks back on his career; actor, writer and director Sharon Horgan talks Bad Sisters; intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien shares techniques from her work to aid us in our daily lives; and director Marc Evans, producer Ed Talfan and screenwriters Tom Bullough and Josh Hyams present the inside story of their new film, Mr Burton.

Late nights at Hay Festival are given over to great music, comedy and entertainment.

There are live sets from Billy Ocean, Tree Oh!, John Kirkpatrick, Antony Szmierek, Outpost Drive, The Breaks, Delia Stevens and Will Pound, DJ Vertigo, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra, Sam Lee and the New York Brass Band.

Audiences are encouraged to get musical in free pop-up performances around the Festival site with Decis, Got 2 Sing Choir, Love to Sing Choir, Hay Shantymen, Hay Community Choir, Feast of Fools, Harper Gardeners, Cantorion Y Gelli, and more.

Classical fans have much to enjoy as four BBC Radio 3 lunchtime recitals at St Mary’s Church mark the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth, featuring pianist Danny Driver; the Mithras Trio – Ionel Manciu (violin), Leo Popplewell (cello) and Dominic Degavino (piano); and the Kleio Quartet – Juliette Roos (violin), Katherine Yoon (violin), Yume Fujise (viola) and Eliza Millett (cello); plus there are concerts from harpist Cerys Hafana, guitarist James Woodrow, and pianists Ilya Chetverikov and Maki Sekiyal.

Conversations with music lovers lift the curtain on the business of entertainment as Miranda Sawyer talks Uncommon People: Britpop and Beyond in 20 Songs; and Ian Leslie shares his biography of the Beatles, John & Paul.

Unmissable one-off events blend great storytelling and performance, as cellist Cara Berridge and music critic Kate Kennedy present an evening of words and music; opera singer Hal Cazalet leads a celebration of the golden age of stage and screen through PG Wodehouse’s stories, anecdotes and songs; Arun Ghosh and Cerys Matthews share their musical interpretation of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood; organist Father Richard offers a live accompaniment to A Cottage on Dartmoor and Nosferatu; and there’s a dynamic evening of performance and poetry from three of the resident artists at the Roundhouse in London – Daze Hingorani, Maureen Onwunali and Zakariye.

Laughter comes in the form of new comedy shows from Mark Watson, Jason Byrne, Marcel Lucont’s Cabaret Fantastique, Al Murray, Katherine Ryan, Ivo Graham, Marcus Brigstocke, and Chris McCausland; Little Wander present the Hay Festival Comedy Club nights featuring comedians Michael Akadiri, Fatiha El-Ghorri, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Daman Bamrah, Desiree Burch and Huge Davies; and Rob Deering and friends offer up a unique evening of music and comedy, Beat This.

There’s drama as actor Harriet Walter shares She Speaks! What Shakespeare’s Women Might Have Said; an all-star Austentatious cast celebrates 250 years of Jane Austen with their unique improv show; plus award-winning songwriter Tim Rice presents an evening of Musical hits.

The Platform offers a space for young, emerging artists to share their work with Hay Festival audiences, hosted on site by BBC broadcaster Fee Mak. Spanning a diverse range of art forms, The Platform aims to elevate and develop outstanding creative artists at the start of their careers, with submissions open now.

A series of Festival sessions encourages audiences to get creative, including fiction and non-fiction writing masterclasses with Arvon, plus vocal coach Juliet Russell leads a special scratch choir session.

Art as an act of storytelling comes to the fore as artists Bette Adriaanse and Brian Eno share What Art Does; Peter Lord punches back at the allegation made by Dr Llewelyn Wyn Griffith in the 1950s that there is no Welsh art; Magnum photographer David Hurnand cultural historian Richard King take a look at Welsh society over the last two years in photography; and artist and documentary maker Grayson Perry talks to his vocal coach and voice expert Juliet Russell about what it means to find your voice, and about the human urge to make music.

Architecture is explored through conversations with Simon Jenkins (A Short History of British Architecture); while furniture restorer Will Kirk and woodworker Callum Robinson celebrate the joys of working with wood and finding hope in longevity in a culture where everything seems easily disposable.

Fashion takes to the stage in a conversation with curator Helen Molesworth on the V&A’s new Cartier exhibition; while journalist Lynn Barber and designer Zandra Rhodes share stories from their careers.

The joy of gardening takes centre-stage as four innovative designers – Harry Holding, Eelco Hooftman, Anna Liu and Ann-Marie Powell – share their gardens of the future; Poppy Okotcha and Kathy Slack reveal how connecting with their gardens helped them find solace; hedgelayer Paul Lamb celebrates the benefits of hedgerows; and RHS ambassador Adam Frost shares For the Love of Plants.

New tasting events – Matters of Taste – bring flavours off the page for audiences in demonstrations featuring Imad Alarnab (Imad’s Syrian Kitchen); José Pizarro (The Spanish Pantry); Kate Humble with Alison Lea-Wilson, Jess Lea-Wilson and Toria Whitfield (Home Made – Recipes from the Countryside); Jimi Famurewa (Picky); writer Kitty Corrigan, cook Cherie Denham and photographer Andrew Montgomery (The Irish Bakery); Letitia Clark (For the Love of Lemons) and Diana Henry (Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons); Dan Keeling (Who’s Afraid of Romanée-Conti?); sommelier Jane Rakison; Asma Khan (Monsoon); foraging expert Liz Knight; and special tastings hosted by local producers Wild by Nature, Lucky Seven Brewery, Artistraw Cider,Appleby’s Cheshire and Taste Tibet. Plus, food writers Helen Goh and Yotam Ottolenghi share their latest collaboration, Ottolenghi Comfort.

Festival media partners broadcast live from the Festival site in the Marquee space, including free broadcasts of favourite shows from BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Wales, plus live podcast recordings from The TLS, Sentimental Garbage, The Kill List, Tortoise Media’s The News Meeting, It’s a Continent, and more.

There’s more than ever for families to enjoy at Hay Festival in the dedicated family area, featuring creative hubs, event venues and a family garden full of free activities to inspire young minds.

Festival events on stage inspire the next generation of readers and writers with new fiction from Julia Donaldson (Gozzle), Jacqueline Wilson (The Seaside Sleepover), Cressida Cowell (How to Train Your Dragon School), Michael Morpurgo (Cobweb),Axel Scheffler (Kind), Liz Pichon (Meet the Mubbles), Tahereh Mafi (Watch Me), Claire Fayers (Welsh Giants, Ghosts & Goblins), Kiran Millwood Hargrave (The Storm and the Sea Hawk), Anna James (Alice with a Why), Manon Steffan Ros (The Blue Book of Nebo), Hannah Gold (Finding Bear), Onjali Q Raúf (The Letter With the Golden Stamp), Cornelia Funke (The Green Kingdom), Anton Du Beke (Code Name Foxtrot), Hiba Noor Khan (The Line They Drew Through Us), Kes Gray (Oi Dinosaurs!), Alasdair Beckett-King (Montgomery Bonbon: Mystery at the Manor), Emma Carroll (The Houdini Inheritance), MC Grammar (The Adventures of Rap Kid), Pamela Butchart (The Great Crisp Robbery) and Selina Brown (My Rice is Best); poetry with Alex Wharton (Red Sky in the Morning, Poets’ Warning); Shakespeare as Michael Rosen joins Chris Riddell to share Pocket Shakespeare: A Beginner’s Guide to the Best Bits of the Bard; and actor Michael Sheen hosts a very special storytelling event.

There are lively performances as storyteller Daniel Morden shares The Thief’s Tale; author Michael Morpurgo joins actor Ben Murray for War Horse: In Concert; author and illustrator James Mayhew shares Symphony of Stories; panto star Mama G offers Oh Yes I Am!; TV superstar Andy Day and illustrator Steve Lenton present Dino Dad; Michael Rosen talks We’re Going on a Bear Hunt; broadcaster Emma Barnett joins Jeremy Weil for Colour Your Streets; Huw Aaron presents Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob;Tweedy the Clown talks The Clown who Lost his Nose; Kidderminster College Students present The Dog who Thought he Was a Boy; comedian Marcel Lucont performs; and international storyteller Jan Blake, Djembe drum player Mohamed Gueye and musicians from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra join forces for an interactive performance of Ananse and the Monkeys.

A special event in partnership with Inclusive Books for Children presents the winners of this year’s awards, while Shea Ferren, Male Singer of the Year at the International Eistedfodd 2023, and Peace Child International’s David Woollcombe share their popularPeace Child Time Travel Chat Show.

Young Festivalgoers are encouraged to get creative in the Make & Take Tent throughout the Festival, while there are workshops and interactive events with dynamic creatives including writers and illustrators Rob Biddulph, Leo Timmers, Bethan Woollvin, Harriet Muncaster, Neill Cameron, Owen Davey, Niall Moorjani, Emma Bettridge, Emma Carlisle, Neill Cameron and Hay Festival Illustrator in Residence Lizzie Lomax; cartoonist Siôn Tomos Owen; ornithologist David Lindo; sustainable food expert Michelle Damoby; plus activities led by Rooted Forest School, Circus Skills, Bollywood Dreams Dance Company, and Ready, Steady Music!

The world around us comes into focus in science and history events for young readers featuring historian Philippa Gregory (Normal Women); author MG Leonard (Hunt for the Golden Scarab); broadcaster Hamza Yassin (Hamza’s Wild World); Dr Punam Krishan(You and Your Body); scientist Robert Winston (The Story of Science); illustrator Chris Haughton (The History of Information); author and vet Gill Lewis (The Island Vet: Devil Bird Island); historians David and Yinka Olusoga (Black History for Every Day of the Year); actor Rose Ayling-Ellis (Marvellous Messages); zoologist Brogen Murphy (Wildlands); and TikTok superstar Big Manny and CBeebies presenter Maddie Moate present their big science event.

Sports Day events for young people on Wednesday 28 May include Paralympic champion Jonnie Peacock on You can do Anything!, plus free activities led by Fencing Cymru.

Teen readers gain inspiration from YA writers including Caroline O’Donoghue on Skipshock; Laura Bates on Sisters of Fire and Fury; Jenny Valentine (Us in the Before and After); Clara Kumagai on Songs for Ghosts; Andy Darcy Theo (The Dark That Hides Us); Elle McNicoll (Wish You Were Here); Dean Atta (I Can’t Even Think Straight); Busayo Matuluko and Kemi Ayorinde ('Til Death); Alex Wheatle (The Girl With the Red Boots); and Ashley Hickson-Lovence (Wild East).

A new Creative Industry Insights series gives young people the chance to quiz successful artists including TV producer Jane Tranter, comedian Rachel Parris, broadcaster Fee Mak, and playwright and performance poet Joelle Taylor.

The free Schools Programme brings young people up close to award-winning writers, inspiring creatives and influential thinkers for a series of interactive events in person and online with support from the Moondance Foundation, Foyle Foundation, Rothschild Foundation and Old Possum’s Practical Trust.

KS2 events on Thursday 22 May include writers Katherine Rundell, Patrice Lawrence, Jasbinder Bilan, Louie Stowell, Jenny Pearson and Ross Welford; poet Anni Llŷn; scientists Jules Howard and Ben Garrod; campaigner Lily Dyu; screenwriter and current Waterstones Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce; teacher and performer MC Grammar; and National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa.

KS3/4 events on Friday 23 May feature broadcaster and political analyst Alastair Campbell; writers Matt Goodfellow, Nicola Davies, Anu Adebogun, Caroline O’Donoghue, Anthony McGowan, Liz Hyder, Christopher Edge, and Ravena Guron; historians Alice Roberts and Phillipa Gregory; singer-songwriter Casi Wyn; and former Children’s Laureate Wales Connor Allen.

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