Hay Festival unveils events as in-person programme returns for 2022

The Hay Festival has revealed some of the 500 events taking place this year as the annual literary celebration runs in-person for the first time in three years. 

Organisers have marked 100 days until the festival takes place with 22 early-bird events on sale now with the full programme unveiled on 5th April. 

Returning for its first in-person spring event since 2019, the programme, which runs from 26th May to 5th June, will offer insights and debate in a range of topics featuring more than 600 award-winning writers, policymakers and experts. 

Among the line-up of 500 events, the festival’s "10@10" series will showcase debut writers at 10 a.m. each morning on site, while a partnership with Publishing Wales spotlights Welsh publishers and their work. 

Collaborations with eight leading universities will showcase the latest research in the arts and sciences in a Lunchtime Lecture series. The festival has also partnered with various organisations which will feature throughout the programme including the Booker Prize, the Royal Society, British Council, the TLS, Prospect, BookAid International and the British Library among others. 

Organisers said: “A series of #HayFestival100 events on site will explore the iconic publishing year of 1922 and the century of literature that has followed, including discussions and performances of James Joyce’s Ulysses and T S Eliot’s The Waste Land. The public will be encouraged to share the books that have most influenced them from this past century of publishing.  

“The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will be marked with a series of conversations on Women and Power, while anniversaries of the BBC, Marcel Proust, and Ferdinand Magellan will be reflected in discussions.  

“Lunchtimes at St Mary’s Church will be given over to live music, Hay Castle will be transformed into an open air space for daily performances, and late nights will be given over to a dynamic programme blending music and comedy with theatre and poetry.” 

There will be a strong focus for young people too. The festival will run family-themed events, called Haydays, to “give young readers the opportunity to meet their heroes and get creative throughout the festival”. The Programme for Schools strand on 26th and 27th May allows teachers and pupils to access festival events for free.

The BBC will return to Hay Festival bringing some programmes and podcasts to the site in free events, while a selection of main-stage sessions will be streamed live via the festival’s Hay Player video and audio platform.   

Hay international director Cristina Fuentes La Roche said: “Our 35th annual event in Wales, Hay Festival 2022 is going to be a return to remember and we look forward to welcoming friends – old and new – to our revamped festival site this May. As we put the finishing touches to this year’s line-up, we’re excited to preview some of this year’s themes: a promise of spring and a spark of hope for the year ahead.” 

For more information, visit hayfestival.com/wales/home.