Hay Festival
The Hay Festival, an annual celebration of literature and the arts, unfolds against the picturesque backdrop of Hay-on-Wye, a charming Welsh border town in Powys.
Celebrating literature and creativity in Hay-on-Wye
First held in 1988, this vibrant gathering has evolved into a global phenomenon, attracting writers, artists, thinkers, and performers from all corners of the world. Their mission? To ignite imaginations, provoke discussions, and share their creative sparks with enthusiastic audiences.
Over the years, the Hay Festival has become one of the most prominent cultural events in Wales and the UK, attracting thousands of visitors annually. Last year, we proudly sponsored the festival, where experts from the University shared their scientific discoveries, technological advancements, and hosted discussions on nationhood
Our participation in the 2024 festival
Hay Festival Wales will take place this year from 23 May to 2 June 2024.
Representatives from the University will once again be returning to the festival, bringing a variety of engaging conversations, talks and panel discussions.
For more information about the festival and other events, refer to the full 2024 programme.
Monday 27 May 2024, 5.30pm - Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost
Celtic Palestine: Culture and Conflict
Venue: Meadow Stage
Join Professor Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost, the University's Director of Postgraduate Research Studies at the School of Welsh, for an illustrated talk about his new book, Fieldnotes from Celtic Palestine.
He will share reflections on his field visits to Palestine over several years, including encounters such as being served tea by the daughter of a Hamas suicide bomber in the family apartment in Ramallah and being taken to Jewish settlements regarded as illegal under international law.
He will explore aspects of the conflict in Palestine through the medium of art, casting a critical eye upon depictions of Gaza by the Welsh artist Osi Rhys Osmond and upon portrayals of the West Bank in the creative writing of Irish novelist Colum McCann.
Saturday 1 June 2024, 10am - Ryan Davey, Dan Evans, Richard Gater and Valerie Walkerdine
Social Class in Contemporary Britain
Venue: Meadow Stage
The panel will explore the modern class structure in the UK and discuss how class is lived and experienced; how class interacts with other identities such as race and gender; and the relationship between class and political behaviour.
Walkerdine is a Professor at the University's School of Social Sciences, Dr Ryan Davey is a Lecturer and Richard Gater is a research assistant at the Centre for Adult Social Care Research. Dan Evans is a researcher at Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data.
Saturday 1 June 2024, 5.30pm–7.30pm - Tina Barsby and Denis Murphy talk to Jonathon Harrington
Food For Thought Workshop
Venue: Creative Hub
The world’s human population acquires two-thirds of its calories from just three crops, each with one harvest in each hemisphere. With a burgeoning population, cities spreading onto productive agricultural land and climate change, the area we have for producing food is steadily declining. So where will we grow our food and what will it look like? Will we go vegan or produce all our food organically?
The University's Agronomist Jonathon Harrington will lead a discussion with two world authorities, Professor Tina Barsby (University of Cambridge) and Professor Denis Murphy (University of South Wales), on this essential subject.
Join the experts to hear the scale of the issues and then come together to workshop some solutions.