Six new conversations have been added to the previously sold-out Hay Festival Winter Weekend programme, responding to high demand for the festival taking place next month, 24-27 November.
Over four days, more than 70 acclaimed writers and performers take part in 52 events, launching the best new fiction and non-fiction, engaging with some of the biggest issues of our time, and spreading festive joy with conversations, candle-lit storytelling, film screenings, comedy, music and workshops.
Now in its 23rd year, the Festival’s in-person events will take place in Hay Castle’s Great Hall and Clore Learning Space, alongside spaces throughout the booktown of Hay-on-Wye, including St Mary’s Church, The Poetry Bookshop and Richard Booth’s Bookshop Cinema. More intimate than the spring edition, Hay Festival Winter Weekend sees the Welsh booktown’s independent shops, cafés and attractions offer a warm welcome to Festivalgoers within the stunning surrounds of the Brecon Beacons.
New events added include a special event for families with War Horse author Michael Morpurgo, plus investigative reporter Luke Harding on Invasion: Russsia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival; historian Alison Weir on Queens of the Age of Chivalry: England’s Medieval Queens; novelist Kamila Shamsie on her new book Best of Friends; mountaineer Leo Houlding on Closer to the Edge: Climbing to the Ends of the Earth; former Lib Dem leader Vince Cable on How to Be a Politician; and Katherine Rundell on The Golden Mole and Other Living Treasure.
For audiences unable to attend in person, select events will be livestreamed at hayfestival.org/winter-weekend with Online Festival Passes on sale now. Meanwhile, all events will be available on the Festival’s Hay Player video platform afterwards at hayfestival.org/hayplayer.
Hay Festival CEO Julie Finch said: “This year’s Hay Festival Winter Weekend events sold out in four days – our fastest selling programme ever – and we are pleased to respond to this demand with additional events. Join us in-person or online next month, 24-27 November, to mark the season’s change and year’s end with a celebration of community, bold visions and hope. Writers, readers and performers will gather in venues across our booktown to share their stories and imagine the world anew, and we pass the closing days of 2022 with conversation, laughter, music and friendship.”
Hay Festival Winter Weekend is supported by lead sponsors Visit Wales and Baillie Gifford.
Explore the full programme and book tickets now at hayfestival.org/winter-weekend.
