Every year on the first weekend of Hay Festival, we set up a tent outside Cartref Care Home on Brecon Road. For two days we offer free coffee, tea and Welsh cakes, face painting, and a casual interaction with themed question boards, art, and book table. We also have a free film night at the church and special Sunday morning and evening talks.
For 2026, our theme was “Invisible Strings in the Books we Read and the Lives we Live.” We highlighted questions and talks around Jane Eyre, The Odyssey, Theseus and the Minotaur, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Princess and the Goblin, and The Poetic Edda.
Our Hay Festival Weekend | 23-24 May, 2026
Tent site with question boards, tea & coffee station, art installation, and free book table.
We had 6 question boards that are a great hit for interaction. The most popular this year was the best talk or quote and we had many great responses and conversations.
The free book table was heavily visited. We gave away 80 books and had 3 leftover. The books were all themed from our six highlighted classics and also a few Mere Christianity and other faith and theology reads.
The weather was a bit too hot, but we did lots of face (or hand) painting, gave away tea and Welsh cakes, books, and had lots of conversations.
Amazing and engaging art by Lois & Lio. People loved stopping to look at them and try to figure out the book each represented.
Film night, which we forgot to take photos of, was great fun. We loved watching the 1991 The Princess and the Goblin animated film. With popcorn and hot cocoa too!
photo from last year
Mini talks on Sunday morning by Caryn & Caleb. Great little crowd and different books seemed to resonate with people in a variety of ways
Sunday evening keynote talk by Nate Morgan Locke
The Sunday evening keynote was well-attended again. Discussion afterward was casual, but many stuck around and we had a good handful of visitors. It was a great way to close out the weekend
We had such a great weekend and cannot wait to continue the conversations. To do so, we’re starting some book clubs! We’ll have one local in Hay-on-Wye and one hosted online by our friend Caleb. Our first books will be selected from the six we highlighted in this year’s theme. We hope to start them in the next couple months so if you are interested, contact us and we’ll keep you in the loop of information!