
Not quite over
So Hay 2012 is officially over – but not for this blog spot. To commentate on the festival well one has to be in the thick of it. In the thick of it, though, doesn’t leave a lot of time…

Andy Middleton- Making Hay on Earth
A chance conversation at the Hay Festival five years ago with Andy Fryers, Director of Sustainability at the Hay Festival has led to impact beyond anything that we dared imagine then. Two years of funding through TYF and howies allowed…

Hannah Rothschild on 25 years of the Hay Festival
Only some of the memorable events at Hay happen on stages. This year I will treasure the sight and sound of Cerys Matthews battling with a flapping tent while singing ‘Blowing in the Wind’; Alice Oswald’s blasting, blazing recitation of…

Lord Howell- the Hay Festival and Commonwealth Network
This year two amazing networks came together. They were the Hay Festival Network and the Commonwealth Network. What do I mean by them coming together? I mean that thanks both to the Commonwealth Foundation and the Hay Festival’s imaginative organisers…

Lexi the Illustrator
Lexi has been an intern at Hay for the last 4 years. In her other life, when she’s not charging around a field in Hay, she is an illustrator. She has drawn the brilliant maps of the festival site and…

Jim Naughtie on Hay 25
I don’t know if it’s the rain that’s responsible for inducing a particular camaraderie this year, But the 25th Hay seems a happy one to me. The mix of old friends and new audiences is richer than ever, and I…

Fflur Dafydd on Cerys Matthews and Hay 25
My favourite Hay 2012 moment has to be my daughter waking up in her pram in the Artists’ Restaurant to find Cerys Matthews peering in at her. “Hi, I’m Beca,” she said, totally unfazed by it all, while I –…

The Skidelsky Duo
Is happiness something we want to maximise? A question not often asked. Probably because the answer seems simple. This question formed the basis of the talk by the father -son Skidelsky duo who put forward their own economic theories, drawing…

Zarghuna Kargar
I had been told by a reliable source that Zarghuna Kargar’s talk on Afghan women was a must-see. Nevertheless I could not have prepared myself for the emotive and inspirational interview by Anita Anand. Afghan-born herself, Zarghuna has worked tirelessly…

Oliver Balch on Travel Writing at Hay 25
Oliver Balch is the author of India Rising We live in a global village. Or at least that’s what we are repeatedly told. In a world where few street corners are free of McDonalds or Starbucks, what role is there…
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