The Latest Breaking News from Hay

Meta legal action forces Facebook whistleblower to sit in silence at Hay festival

Sarah Wynn-Williams did not speak during event after lawyers warned of possible sanctions from tech firm

The Guardian - UK · May 31

Hay Festival announces return of expert panel series The News Review for 2025

‘The Independent’ will host a selection of experts to dissect the day’s breaking news

The Independent UK · Mar 18, 2025

Michael Sheen, Jameela Jamil and Hanif Kureishi join packed Hay festival lineup

Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition leader, is also due to appear, in a festival dedicated to activism and an exploration of the impact of AI

The Guardian - UK · Mar 11, 2025

OPINION - From Hillary Clinton to Elton John and Arsène Wenger — the Hay Festival's idiosyncrasies have made it special

This week I step down from the Hay Festival, where for the past decade or so I’ve been a trustee, vice-president and chairman (or, alternatively, chief cook and bottle washer). I’ll be staying on in an advisory (and probably quite annoying) capacity, but operationally I’m done. Ten years is long…

Evening Standard · Feb 12, 2024

The blockbuster book festival returns: Hay announces first wave of 2024 guest speakers

The annual festival will once again unite ‘great minds and fascinating people who’ve looked at the world from different viewpoints’ for a week of wide-ranging debate

The Independent UK · Nov 28, 2023

Salman Rushdie to write a book about being stabbed on stage

Author tells Hay literary festival he needs to ‘get past’ the knife attack he suffered before writing anything else

The Guardian - UK · Jun 1, 2023

National Trust working on policy on return of colonial loot, chair says

René Olivieri tells Hay festival the charity is in process of deciding what to do about stolen objects in its properties

The Guardian - UK · May 30, 2023

Nick Cave speaks out against boycotting songs because of creators’ actions

Australian musician told Hay festival we should not ‘eradicate the best of these people in order to punish the worst of them’

The Guardian - UK · May 28, 2023

Rebecca F Kuang rejects idea authors should not write about other races

US novelist talks of ‘weird kind of identity politics in American publishing’ while at Hay festival

The Guardian - UK · May 28, 2023

David Miliband calls support for Iraq war one of his ‘deepest regrets’

Speaking at Hay festival, former foreign secretary says some may see the west as being hypocritical in its anti-Russia stance

The Guardian - UK · May 28, 2023