Hay Festival

Line up to be announced...

 

Stephen Fry
Judi Dench
Toni Morrison
Joan Bakewell
Cassandra Clare
Julia Donaldson
Arianna Huffington
Jennifer Saunders
Francesca Simon
Jacquline Wilson

Entry to the Hay Festival site is free to all, so everyone can walk around the site and browse the exhibitor stalls and food & drink providers.

The Festival events are ticketed individually; you will need to buy a ticket or tickets to each event that you wish to attend. Entry to some events is free – if there is a limited capacity you will need to reserve a ticket anyway, and this will be indicated in the event listing online and in print.

Hay Fever is our programme within Hay Festival for children, young people and families. Events are ticketed individually; prices for children's events are kept as low as possible across the board, and there are usually no concessions.

Under 12s must be accompanied at all times on the Festival site, including during events (unless indicated otherwise in the event listing). Where a child and an adult are attending an event together, a ticket is required for each.

Booking by telephone

Call the box office on 01497 822 629. It will help us to process your order more efficiently if you have ready the event numbers that you are booking for.

Box office opening hours are 9am–5pm Monday to Friday. From 1 May in the run up to the Festival we will be open later and at weekends.

Booking in person

You can book tickets directly with Hay Festival Box Office at The Drill Hall, 25 Lion Street, Hay-on-Wye HR3 5AD. Box office opening hours are 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. From 1 May in the run up to the Festival we will be open later and at weekends.

On the Tuesday before the Festival starts, the box office moves to the Hay Festival site: Dairy Meadows, Brecon Road, Hay-on-Wye HR3 5PJ.

Booking by post or fax

Send a clearly written or typed list of the event numbers and number of tickets you require to us at the address below.

You can pay by cheque made payable to ‘Hay Festival of Literature’. In case tickets are not available, please leave the amount blank, but write on the cheque ‘not exceeding ... [the total cost of your order]’. Please include your personal details clearly in capitals.

Post or fax to us at:

Hay Festival Box Office
The Drill Hall
25 Lion Street
Hay-on-Wye
HR3 5AD

Fax – +44 (0)1497 821 066

The festival is located on a green field site with all the venues just a brief walk apart linked by covered and carpeted boardwalks. Unlike many festivals, you shouldn’t encounter too much mud. View a map of the site here.

We have easily accessible drop-off points and a disabled car park for blue badge holders on site.

Please call the Box Office on 01497 822 629 to book the disabled car park and for any other accessibility queries that you have, and we will do our best to make your visit as easy as possible.

It is also worth noting that the festival is at its busiest during the first weekend; midweek tends to be a little less congested.

Site address

The Festival site address is Dairy Meadows, Brecon Road, Hay on Wye, HR3 5PJ.

Hay-on-Wye is situated just off the A438 between Brecon and Hereford. The Festival is well signposted. The nearest railway station is Hereford, 21 miles away, and Hereford bus station is served by National Express coaches. Full travel information is given below.

Festival Bus Link Hereford to Hay

Festival Bus Link Hereford to Hay and Worcester to Hay

Our special festival bus service linking Hay-on-Wye with trains and coaches at Hereford's train and bus stations and Worcester Crowngate Bus Station runs for the duration of the Festival.

You can buy your bus ticket from the bus driver when boarding – just ask for a 'Hay Festival bus ticket'. Contactless payment is available on board. If you're travelling to Hereford by train and buy your ticket from a staffed station, you may be able to purchase the train and bus ticket at the same time.

Festival Bus Link buses are fully DDA compliant, with 'low floor' and space for one wheelchair.

Hereford to Haysinglereturnperiod return

Adults£7.50£10£11

Children (5 to 15 years)£3.50£5£5.50

Family Period Return (for up to 4 persons, of which maximum 2 adults)£20

Hereford to Hay Festival bus service timetable

This bus runs along the A438 between Kings Acre, Wyevale Nursery and Hay-on-Wye, serving the following main recognised stops: Swainshill, Stretton Sugwas Turn; Swainshill, Post Office; Kenchester Turn; Bridge Sollers, Crossroads; Byford, Old School; Portway Hotel; Staunton-on-Wye, Crossroads; Letton, The Swan; Letton, Kinnersley Turn; Willersley, Old Crow Farm; Winforton, Sun Inn; Whitney-on-Wye, Church; Rhydspence Border; Clyro, Square.

The bus will also stop in the villages en route where it is safe to do so (not on a bend or a brow of a hill).

Scheduled Bus Service: Hereford and Brecon to Hay Return

There is also a scheduled bus service from Hereford and Brecon to Hay-on-Wye operating seven days a week. Service 39 operates on weekdays and Saturdays, while Service 39A runs on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

The nearest bus stop to the Festival site is 200 metres away, outside the Fire Station.

Shuttle buses

Local shuttle buses

Regular shuttle bus services run between the Festival site and Hay town centre, and between the Festival site and local villages, as below.

Book Town Shuttle Bus

A regular shuttle bus service runs between the Festival site and the town centre throughout the Festival. Day tickets for the shuttle bus are £2. Pick up and drop off points are Oxford Road Car Park and the Festival site.

The shuttle bus is supported by Richard Booth’s Bookshop.

The Village Shuttle Bus Service

Avoid the queues and choose the greener way to travel – leave your car at home this year and take the Village Shuttle Bus which links up local villages to the Festival site. The buses will call at stops including Llanigon, Felindre, Glasbury, Talgarth and Bronllys. Tickets cost £3 per journey. Guide dogs only are permitted on the shuttle bus.

Wet Weather

Wet weather car parking will be at Clyro Court only. An extra shuttle bus service will in this case operate between Clyro Court and Oxford Road Car Park. The Hay Town – Festival Shuttle Bus will then take visitors to the Festival site. This is to avoid congestion and to provide the most efficient service. Disabled parking will continue to be available on the Festival site in wet weather. (Please book a disabled parking space at the time of booking tickets.)

The Village Shuttle Bus Service

Avoid the queues and choose the greener way to travel – leave your car at home this year and take the Village Shuttle Bus. We will be running bus services on two routes this year, linking up local villages to the Festival site. The buses will call at stops including Llanigon, Felindre, Glasbury, Llowes and Clyro. Tickets cost £2 per journey. Guide dogs only are permitted on the shuttle bus.

Travelling by bus or coach to Hay-on-Wye

Coach enquiries:

08705 80 80 80

Hereford bus station is served by coaches as follows:

From London Victoria, London Heathrow, Cirencester and Gloucester

From Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham and Worcester

Travelling by train to Hay-on-Wye

Railway enquiries: 08457 48 49 50

The nearest railway station is Hereford, twenty miles away.

Hereford train station is served by regular trains as follows:

First Great Western from London Paddington, Reading (rail/air link from London Heathrow) and Oxford

Arriva Trains Wales from South West Wales, Swansea, Cardiff, Newport, Cwmbran and Abergavenny

Arriva Trains Wales from Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Wilmslow, Crewe, Shrewsbury, Church Stretton, Craven Arms, Ludlow and Leominster

Arriva Trains Wales from North Wales, Chester, Wrexham and Gobowen (Oswestry)

London Midland Trains from Birmingham New Street, Bromsgrove, Worcester Foregate Street, Great Malvern and Ledbury

There is a regular, direct festival shuttle bus link between Hereford rail and bus stations and Hay-on-Wye / the festival site, which connects with train arrivals and departures (see above for timetable).

Travelling by taxi to Hay-on-Wye

Taxi-share scheme is available from:

A2B Taxis: 01874 658 899

Julie’s: 07899 846 592

Radnor & Kington Taxis: 07831 898 361

Pedicabs

Pedicabs are a sustainable, pedal-powered, zero-emission taxi service, keeping things simple and fun, honest and green. Take a ride in our Festival cycle rickshaws operating between the Festival site and the Swan Hotel. Provided by Hereford Pedicabs – 07718 320 195.

Car share

Hay Festival partners with both goCarShare and BlaBlaCar.com to help connect drivers with spare seats and those needing help getting to Hay. It’s a great way to meet likeminded people, as well as being a big help in reducing carbon emissions and congestion – and it also saves everyone money.

You can also hire a car locally from LT Baynham Self-Drive Hire, 74 Whitecross Road, Hereford HR4 0DG. tel – 01432 273 298.

Walking to the Hay Festival

The Festival site is a short five-minute walk along Brecon Road into the centre of Hay. For the more adventurous, there is a wealth of challenging, enjoyable, breathtaking and health-inducing walks to be had around Hay.

Biking to the Hay Festival

Hay-on-Wye is cycle-friendly and you can hire bikes in town at Drover Holidays on Oxford Road. A cycle park is available on the festival site with bike stands kindly provided by Drover Holidays.

Local bike trail information can be found through Mountain Biking Brecon Beacons and Mountain Biking Wales.

Some say it all started with a Big Bang, some believe in a freak poker game... more likely there were a bunch of friends round a kitchen table wanting something to do of an evening.