Hay Festival
Hay Festival of Literature and Arts (sometimes referred to as Hay-on-Wye Festival), is a book, food, and arts festival taking place annually in Hay-on-Wye, Powys. The festival was conceived by Norman and Peter Florence in 1988.
In the past Hay Festival has seen performances from Tim Minchin, and an audience with Hilary Mantel. The full line up is to be announced on Easter Weekend, in April. Previous performers at the Hay-on-Wye Festival have included Stephen Fry, Carol Ann Duffy, Melvyn Bragg, Dylan Moran, and Howard Davies.
The festival has thrived on popularity over recent years, and it has now expanded to a number of countries such as Colombia, Mexico, Kenya, Turkey, Hungary, Ireland, and India. The festival also hosts a children’s festival called Hay Fever, and started the Hay-On-Earth initiative to reduce the carbon footprint of the festival across the world.
Over 250,000 now attend Hay Festival and its sister festivals worldwide, from an initial attendance of 1000 in 1988. As well as aiming to entertain patrons of the festival, it also focuses on education as an important aspect of the arts, with an outreach programme extending through Wales.
The Guardian, The Times, and The Telegraph have all sponsored Hay-On-Wye Festival, with a writer at The Guardian claiming that the festival attracted the best writers in the world.
At Hay you could spend hours trawling through the bookshops, one filled with pristine new ones, the other crammed full of dog-eared, pre-loved paper and hardbacks.
Hay is heaven for book lovers even before you get the chance to meet the authors. That elevates the experience to something akin to paradise.
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