BAFTA-winning actor and national treasure Miriam Margolyes will switch on Hay-on-Wye’s Christmas lights as part of her Hay Festival Winter Weekend appearance on Friday 26 November.
The free switch-on event will take place between 5pm and 7pm in The Cheese Market, accompanied by carol singing to give a rousing start to the Festival weekend, which runs to Sunday 28 November.
Miriam Margolyes is a veteran of the stage and screen, and an internationally acclaimed voice-artist. Winner of the BAFTA Best Supporting Actress award for The Age of Innocence, she received an OBE in 2002 for Services to Drama.
Her memoir, This Much is True, tells her extraordinary life story to date. From declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave to being told to be quiet by the Queen, it is packed with brilliant stories and features a cast list stretching from Scorsese to Streisand, a cross-dressing Leonardo di Caprio to Isaiah Berlin.
Margolyes will be talking about the book immediately following the lights switch-on alongside broadcaster and classicist Natalie Haynes at 7pm on the Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage.
Katie Sutton, chair of Hay Chamber of Commerce, said: “Hay-on-Wye is so excited to be hosting Hay Festival Winter Weekend in-person again, especially after 20 difficult months. We’re particularly delighted that Miriam Margolyes will be switching on the lights and we are all looking forward to welcoming people back to our beautiful town.”
Hay Festival Winter Weekend returns with an ambitious programme for its first ticketed, in-person events in the UK for two years, bringing writers and readers together 24-28 November with a line-up to inspire, examine and entertain.
Over five days, more than 80 acclaimed writers and performers will take part, launching the best new fiction and non-fiction, interrogating some of the biggest issues of our time, and spreading joy with conversations, candle-lit storytelling, comedy, music, and family workshops.
In-person events take place in a new Festival site in the centre of Hay-on-Wye against the stunning backdrop of the Brecon Beacons. Comprised of Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage, located on the Cae Mawr field (at the base of the town’s Oxford Road car park) and the Baillie Gifford Stage in the neighbouring Hay Primary School, the new site also includes the Festival bookshop, hosting regular in-person signings, along with a food and drink court and exhibitors.
Events will also take place around the town more widely, in the Parish Hall, St Mary’s Church and the Cheese Market, while the booktown’s independent shops, cafés and markets open their doors with a warm welcome to Festivalgoers.
To ensure the safety of audiences, artists and staff against Covid-19, Hay Festival will have several new procedures in place in line with guidance from the Welsh Government.
Hay Festival international director Cristina Fuentes la Roche said: “We’re back for our first in-person events in the UK in two years with Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2021, a Festival of inspiration and optimism to entertain curious minds of all ages. With an ambitious programme filling an innovative new site, it marks both a return to celebrate and a fresh start. Join us in a safe space to imagine the world anew as we near the end of this year, with music, laughter and friends.”
Hay Festival Winter Weekend is supported by the Festival’s lead sponsors Visit Wales and Baillie Gifford. The free Programme for Schools and Beacons Project are funded by the Welsh Government and Hay Festival Foundation.
Explore the full Hay Festival Winter Weekend programme and book tickets now at hayfestival.org/winter-weekend. hayfestival.org/winter-weekend
