What you need to know about Hay Festival 2024
Hay Festival, one of the world’s top literary events, is held every year in the mid Wales town of Hay-on-Wye.
It runs this year from Thursday 23 May to Sunday 2 June, and the line-up includes a variety of speakers and performers – including Geri Halliwell-Horner, Bonnie Tyler, Gary Lineker and Theresa May.
What is Hay Festival?
Hay Festival is an annual arts and literature festival which takes place over the course of 11 days each spring.
Notable writers, musicians, comedians, poets and more come together to host a series of sessions, attracting about 300,000 visitors every year.
First held in 1988, the event has attracted many big names over the years.
They include Stormzy, Sir Tom Jones, and the former US president Bill Clinton, who famously described Hay as the “Woodstock of the mind”.
Stormzy at Hay: ‘Black people are not monolithic’
Who are the big names at Hay Festival 2024?
Geri Halliwell-Horner, Bonnie Tyler and Charlotte Church are among a number of stars who will appear this year.
They will be joined by Dame Judi Dench, Gary Lineker and How to Fail’s Elizabeth Day.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May and politician-turned-podcaster Rory Stewart will also be in the Powys town to provide insight and debate on global issues.
Comedians Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Fry and Sir Lenny Henry will also appear, alongside Nobel Prize-winning activist Maria Ressa and National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa.
