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Our Top Tips for Hay festival and Making the Most of Your Visit.

Updated: 22 hours ago




It feels like a lovely place to begin our very first journal post, especially as Hay Festival comes around again and the whole area starts to come to life.

It really is one of our favourite times of year here. There is something quite special about it. The fields fill with people, ideas, stories and conversation, and Hay on Wye somehow feels even more vibrant than usual. If you have been before, you will probably know exactly what we mean. And if this is your first visit, you are in for something memorable.

One of the nicest things about the festival is that everyone experiences it differently. Some people arrive with a carefully planned schedule and a notebook full of talks they do not want to miss. Others wander in for the day and discover things completely by accident. The best visits usually end up being a bit of both.

If you are planning your first trip, it is definitely worth having a look through the programme in advance and booking early for anything you really want to see. Some of the bigger names sell out very quickly, especially once members have had priority booking access.

You can browse the full programme and book tickets here:

This year’s line up is packed with brilliant people. Depending on when you visit, you could find yourself listening to conversations with Emma Thompson, Malala Yousafzai, Tim Berners Lee, Mary Berry, Michael McIntyre, Charlie Mackesy, Maggie O’Farrell, Simon Schama, Tim Minchin, Johnny Flynn, David Olusoga or Dawn French, and that barely scratches the surface.

One thing we have learned over the years is not to overfill every day. Leave room for the unexpected bits. A wander through the bookshop. A coffee in the sun. A conversation you did not plan on having. Some of our favourite festival moments have happened in between the headline events.

And if you miss out on tickets for something popular, it is still worth checking while you are there. People change plans all the time, extra tickets sometimes appear, and the festival box office can occasionally help with returns or last minute availability. There are also plenty of smaller talks and performances that end up being the highlight of the weekend.

The festival site itself is free to enter, which makes things wonderfully flexible. You can dip in and out during the day rather than feeling tied to one place the whole time. Parking is usually just outside the site and tends to be very straightforward too.

It is also well worth wandering into Hay itself between events. The walk from the festival into town is part of the experience really. Independent bookshops tucked into every corner, little cafés, honesty bookshops, ice cream stops, and that lovely slightly chaotic festival atmosphere that spills out beyond the site itself.

There are often smaller events happening around town as well, from music and performances to gatherings at Hay Castle and along the river. Sometimes those quieter moments end up being the ones you remember most.

And after a full day of all that, having somewhere peaceful to come back to makes such a difference.

We are just outside Hay on Wye, overlooking the valley, where evenings tend to become very quiet again. Big skies, fresh air, the occasional owl, and a chance to properly slow down after the energy of the festival.

If you are still looking for somewhere to stay during Hay Festival, we do still have a little midweek availability. Our yurts sleep up to four people and tend to suit couples, friends and small families looking for somewhere comfortable and calm nearby.

For us, that balance has always been what makes Hay Festival so special. The inspiration and liveliness during the day, followed by the quiet of the countryside in the evening.

It turns a festival visit into something that feels like a proper break.


And if you do find yourself heading this way for the festival, we would love to welcome you for your Hay Festival stay.


Our top tips for Hay festival

• Book the talks you really do not want to miss in advance

• Leave space in your plans for wandering and unexpected discoveries

• Spend time exploring Hay on Wye itself, not just the festival site

• Keep checking for last minute tickets and smaller events

• Give yourself somewhere peaceful to return to at the end of the day


We will share more here over time. Favourite walks, places to eat, hidden corners of Hay, and little things we think are worth knowing if you are visiting for the first time. But this felt like a nice place to begin.

 
 
 

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