Hay Festival 2026 took place May 21-31 in Hay-on-Wye, the National Book Town of Wales that features more than 20 bookshops. It is also home base for Hay Festival Global, which describes itself as "the antidote to polarization. We bring together diverse voices to listen, talk, debate and create, tackling some of the biggest political, social, and environmental challenges of our time."
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| Tim Wu, Sarah Wynn-Williams and Carole Cadwalladr at their Hay Festival panel. (photo: Sam Hardwick/Hay Festival) |
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This year's Hay Festival made headlines internationally due to an event featuring Careless People author Sarah Wynn-Williams, who was on a panel called "The Power of Tech," with academic Tim Wu and journalist Carole Cadwalladr. The former Facebook executive remained silent "after receiving legal advice that taking part in the on-stage discussion could place her in breach of an injunction imposed on her by Facebook parent Meta. The festival had earlier withdrawn her book Careless People from sale in order to facilitate her appearance," the Bookseller noted. She was later given a standing ovation by the audience.
Helen Bagnall, Hay's program director, said the panel was "an important act of solidarity for the silenced." The Guardian noted that in her introduction, Cadwalladr said: "I think this might be a Hay first, in which we have an author in a hostage situation. Blink once if you can hear us, Sarah, twice if [Mark] Zuckerberg is an asshole."
In addition to headline-making panels, the Hay Festival is about the thousands of people who make their way to the tiny village of Hay-on-Wye to bask in the aura of a place and festival where books and book people matter. Here are some bookish Hay moments that caught my attention on social media:
*North Books, Haye-on-Wye, posted: "Will you be 'reading with intent' or 'reading within tent' this festival? Bookshop customer, Hannah, created this splendid bunting with her own inspired spin on literary convention. Either way, drop by for your festival author books en route to hear your favorite authors!"
*BBC Radio 4's Danny Robins and Evelyn Hollow "take us around the Hay Festival book shop and create their very own book haul."
*One attendee posted on his Facebook page: "We went to 16 events spread over 5 days.... Just as important as the events was the atmosphere of the festival, especially in the hot sunshine. It was good to be in the presence of kindred spirits who enjoy reading. Hay has been described as the Woodstock of the mind."
*Among other projects, Hay Festival illustrator in residence Charlotte Hepburn was creating "live sketches," and noted: "I do the Hay program. I kind of started with the real things like the tents and the deck chairs.... I like drawing people that don't know that you're drawing them. It makes it less fake... plus it takes pressure off me if people don't know I'm drawing them. If it's rubbish it doesn't matter."
*Local artist Stef Thelwell, who was also sketching attendees from her perch in the shade of a tree, observed: "The really interesting thing about Hay Festival is that you get such an enormous array of people.... Each person has their own story. It's all part of one big story."
*Bestselling author Maggie O'Farrell was in attendance to talk about her latest novel, Land.
*This year's Hay Festival Medal winners were women's rights campaigner and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai (Medal for Education), British broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Bowen (Medal for Journalism), former children's laureate Michael Rosen (Medal for Poetry), and actor, screenwriter, and author Emma Thompson (Medal for Drama), who said while putting the medal on herself: "I love it. I shall wear it to bed."
*"Meet Simon, Hay Festival steward and resident chalkboard artist."
*"Guinness World Records confirmed Lizzie and Finn built the tallest stack of books in an hour, live on stage at Hay Festival 2026" and "Idris built the tallest stack of books in 3 minutes (under 16s) today, live on stage at Hay Festival 2026."
*Bestselling author Matt Haig was challenged by BBC Radio 4 "to find the ultimate book haul" at Hay Festival's bookshop.
*"Let's talk about Hay Festival!" The Enchanted Shelf, Newport, Wales noted: "It's been a very busy weekend so I'm a little late posting these, but i had a great day! It was my first time going to Hay Festival but it definitely won't be the last.... Popped into the town and had a chat with @the.wandering.chapter who was so sweet and lovely! Visited lots of book shops! Then back to Hay for our last talk of the day with the hilarious @saaraelarifi and @say_shannon! They were so funny, and brought so much energy to the end of the day. I giggled the whole time! Finishing the day off with an ice cream. It was exhausting but wonderful."
*One More Chapter in Nottingham posted: "A few days away from the shop, spent wandering through book tents, listening to brilliant people talk about stories, and coming home with far too many ideas (and books). Hay Festival--you were an absolute dream. Now excuse us while we attempt to fit approximately 47 new recommendations onto the shelves at onemorechapter.shop."
*And Gay on Wye bookshop summed it up well: "Hay Festival is over for now, Gay on Wye is here all year! Hay-on-Wye is the world's most famous book town and we're its only LGBTQ+ bookshop. We're here every day, and our online shop never closes. If the festival has inspired a reading list, we can help with that. The tents are coming down, the wristbands are coming off, what was your highlight of the festival?"