Hay Festival has unveiled the programme for its Winter Weekend 2026, with more than 60 writers, artists, performers and speakers heading to Hay-on-Wye from 26 to 29 November.
Taking place in the grounds of Hay Castle in the heart of the “world’s first booktown”, the four-day festival will bring together figures from literature, music, comedy, politics, history, science and the arts.
The line-up includes novelist Kate Mosse, poets Simon Armitage, Owen Sheers and Alex Wharton, historian David Olusoga, singer-songwriter David Gray, Radio 1 DJ Greg James, and actors Lucian Msamati, Caroline Quentin, Maxine Peake and Greg Wise.
Comedians Lucy Porter and Kiri Pritchard-McLean, physicist Jim Al-Khalili, journalists Luke Harding and Charlotte Higgins, former Scotland First Minister Humza Yousaf, former Buddhist monk Sam Yo and potter Keith Brymer Jones are also among those appearing.
The programme is available online now, with early booking open to Hay Festival Members. General sale begins on Saturday 26 September.
Launching new fiction and non-fiction, events will explore some of the biggest questions of the day alongside candle-lit storytelling, music and comedy performances.
Hay Festival Global CEO Julie Finch said:
“The changing seasons give us permission to pause and slow down. As we head into our
40th year and reflect on the past four decades of our charity’s impact, Hay Festival Winter
Weekend offers us an opportunity to gather around stories with warmth, humour and
generosity and reflect on the rapidly changing world around us in an intimate, cosy
setting. Join us this winter and experience a world of different ideas.”
New books will feature prominently throughout the weekend, with Liv Little discussing Bitter Melon, Olly Smith presenting Death by Noir, Cathy Rentzenbrink exploring The Agatha Christie Cure and Matthew Sweet presenting The Great Dictator: A Life of Barbara Cartland.
Kate Mosse will discuss Autumn: The Story of a Season, while Nick Harkaway presents The Taper Man. Former Buddhist monk Sam Yo will discuss The Monk’s Mindset and physicist Jim Al-Khalili will explore On Time.
Actor Maxine Peake will also share the books that have shaped her life as part of the Festival’s My Life in Books session.
Current affairs will feature across the programme, with David Olusoga, Charlotte Higgins and Symeon Brown reviewing some of the biggest news stories of the year.
Former Scotland First Minister Humza Yousaf will talk about his family’s evacuation from Gaza, while Guardian international correspondent Luke Harding will examine how Trump and Putin have changed the world.
Journalist Stephen Sackur will explore investigations that shook the world, while Charlotte Higgins will discuss art in a time of war through Ukrainian Lessons.
Welsh history will also form part of the programme as graphic novelist Jack Lewis and poet Owen Sheers honour the victims of the Aberfan Disaster 60 years on.
Curators Sue Brunning and Lloyd de Beer will discuss the Bayeux Tapestry’s return to Britain after 1,000 years, while local historian Heather Hurley will revisit the world of Herefordshire steam trains.
Elsewhere, Keith Brymer Jones will explore the history of pots and potters, The Hebridean Baker will look at what makes a Scottish Christmas and chef Thomasina Miers will share the secrets behind Mexican Feast.
Nature and the environment will feature in several events. Actor Caroline Quentin will talk to broadcaster Kate Humble about her new book Drawn to Nature, while journalists Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor will discuss environmental damage.
Women’s stories will also take centre stage, with Witches of Scotland campaigners Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi investigating the history of the Witch Trials through How to Kill a Witch.
Founder of Sex Talks Emma-Louise Boynton, columnist Kate Lister and adult-film director Erika Lust will explore Lust, Flick, Pleasure: Female Desire, while comedians Lucy Porter and Kiri Pritchard-McLean present Middle-Aged Women Get Sh*t Done.
Festive events include Radio 1 DJ Greg James and author Chris Smith presenting their new children’s book Secret Santa, while Reverend Kate Bottley and author Cole Moreton will discuss The Faith Almanac.
Kate Mosse, Liv Little, Larry Lamb, Owen Sheers and Simon Armitage will take part in a literary reimagining of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
Music will run throughout the weekend at Hay Castle and St Mary’s Church, with performances and events involving pianist Andrew Zolinsky and Llareggub Brass Brand.
Grammy nominee David Gray and conservationist Mary Colwell will explore nature through an evening of music and conversation, while the 1925 silent horror film The Phantom of the Opera will be screened with live accompaniment from organist Father Richard Williams.
Family, grief and memory will provide another strand of the programme. Olivia Harrison, widow of Beatles member George Harrison, will share photographs and stories from his posthumous collection Third Eye, while actor Greg Wise launches his new book Grief Talking.
Documentary-maker Eamon Bourke will première The Solway, documenting the discovery of his late mother’s family archives, followed by a Q&A with psychotherapist Julia Samuel.
The Maclean Brothers will tell the story of their 3,000 mile row across the Atlantic Ocean, while Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules will talk to Charlotte Higgins about four generations of one family.
Poet Laureate Simon Armitage will give voice to the ancient poem Gilgamesh, while Wales’ Children’s Laureate Alex Wharton will share Bright Lives: Poetry Celebrating Historical Black Figures in Wales.
Actors Lucian Msamati and Greg Wise, alongside theatre director Dominic Dromgoole, will also spotlight British and Irish playwrights from the past century, including Samuel Beckett.
A free KS1 Programme for Schools will open Hay Festival Winter Weekend with funding from The Moondance Foundation.
It will include two days of talks and workshops from Laura Dockrill, Petr Horáček, Alex Wharton and Sophy Henn for primary school pupils from four state schools in Merthyr Tydfil.
The wider programme aims to provide primary school pupils from state schools in Wales with free access to Festival events as part of an outreach project running through the autumn and into the New Year.
The Festival will also use public nominations to award the Hay Festival Book of the Year. Previous winners include Anthony Shapland’s A Room Above A Shop, Chloe Dalton’s Raising Hare, Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry and Dara McAnulty’s Diary of a Young Naturalist.
Away from the programme, Hay-on-Wye’s independent shops, cafés and markets will welcome visitors throughout the weekend, with the town’s Christmas lights switch-on taking place on Friday 27 November.
Select events will also be live-streamed to audiences around the world through the Festival’s online pass.
Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2026 takes place from 26 to 29 November. Hay Festival will then celebrate its 40th spring edition in 2027, from Thursday 27 May to 6 June.
