Hay Festival returns to Powys this week featuring the likes of Dame Judi Dench, Miriam Margolyes from Harry Potter and Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner.

The 2024 edition of the popular festival will once again take place in Hay-on-Wye and will run for 11 days.

Whether you are attending Hay Festival 2024 or will be in the area and wondering how you might be affected, here is all you need to know.

When is Hay Festival 2024?

The 2024 edition of Hay Festival will begin on Thursday (May 23) and will run for over a week.

This year's festival will conclude on Sunday, June 2.

Where is Hay Festival 2024 taking place?

Hay Festival 2024 is taking place in Hay-on-Wye in Powys.

The festival site is just off the A438 at HR3 5PJ and is well-signposted.

Hay Festival programme

Following the likes of Dua Lipa, Stormzy, Dame Prue Leith and Bear Grylls in 2023, Hay Festival 2024 is set to feature some big-name celebrities.

Some of the headline acts include:​

  • Charlotte Church (Welsh singer)
  • Geri Halliwell-Horner (Spice Girls)
  • James Blunt (Pop singer)
  • Dame Judi Dench (James Bond)
  • Miriam Margolyes (Harry Potter)
  • Stephen Fry (QI, Fry and Laurie, Sherlock Holmes) 
  • Sir Lenny Henry (Comedian, actor, TV personality and former Red Nose Day host)
  • Toby Jones (The Hunger Games, Captain America and Mr Bates vs The Post Office)
  • Gary Lineker (BBC Match of the Day and former England footballer)
  • Jon Richardson (comedian)

You can see the full Hay Festival 2024 programme here.

Hay Festival 2024 tickets

Tickets to some of the Hay Festival 2024 events are already sold out.

However, there are still tickets available to a wide range of shows and activities during the festival.

You can purchase tickets via the Hay Festival website.

If you are unable to make it to the festival in person, don't worry, you can buy an online pass instead. 

An online pass costs £60 and gives you access to "a curated selection of the most popular Hay Festival 2024 events" to watch live or on replay until June 3, 2024.

While you will need to buy tickets for certain events it is free to enter the Festival site with a range of cafés, street food, exhibitors, book and gift shops, gardens and a dedicated family area open all day long.

How to get to Hay Festival 2024 and parking

Driving to and parking at Hay Festival

If you are looking to drive to Hay Festival there is event parking available just a short walk from the site.

Car Park at Hay in aid of Macmillan is the closest car park to the Festival site and costs £10 per day, or £8 per day if booked in advance via the Hay Festival website here.

Disabled parking in the car park is now sold out.

There is, however, a drop-off point at the Festival site entrance for Festival-goers with limited mobility.

If you are looking for charging points for your car, there are a number available close to the festival:

  • Four fast electric charging points in Oxford Road car park in the centre of Hay-on-Wye (HR3 5EQ)
  • Further charging points a five-minute drive from Hay-on-Wye at Clyro Court (HR3 5LE)

There are also car sharing options available with companies including Hay Festival partners goCarShare, BlaBlaCar.com and Liftshare.

The Hay Festival website says: "It’s (car sharing) a great way to meet like-minded people, as well as being a big help in reducing carbon emissions and congestion – and it also saves everyone money."

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Train

The nearest railway station to Hay-on-Wye is Hereford which is located 20 miles away.

There are a number of train services that operate in and out of Hereford Station:

  • Great Western Railway (GWR) from London Paddington, Reading (rail/air link from London Heathrow) and Oxford
  • Transport for Wales (TfW) from South West Wales, Swansea, Cardiff, Newport, Cwmbran and Abergavenny
  • TfW from Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Wilmslow, Crewe, Shrewsbury, Church Stretton, Craven Arms, Ludlow and Leominster
  • TfW from North Wales, Chester, Wrexham and Gobowen (Oswestry)
  • West Midlands Trains from Birmingham New Street, Bromsgrove, Worcester Foregate Street, Great Malvern and Ledbury

From the station, there is a regular, direct festival shuttle bus link to Hay-on-Wye and the Festival site.

Bus

Festival bus service

A special festival bus service will operate throughout the duration of the event.

This service will link passengers from Worcester Crowngate Bus Station and Hereford train and bus station to the festival site.

Tickets for all journeys can be bought on the bus.

Ticket prices from Hereford to Hay Festival are as follows:

  • Adults - £10 single, £14 day return, £16 period return
  • Children (5 to 15 years old) - £6 single, £8 day return, £10 period return
  • Family of up to four people (maximum two adults) - £34 return

Ticket prices from Worcester to Hay Festival are as follows:

  • Adults - £13 single, £20 return, £22 period return
  • Children (5 to 15 years) - £8 single, £10 return, £12 period return
  • Family of up to four people (maximum two adults) - £38 return

You can view the timetable and stops the services will make via the Hay Festival website.

Hay-on-Wye/Festival site shuttle bus service

There will be a regular shuttle bus service operating between the Hay Festival site and the town centre.

Pick-up and drop-off points are at the festival site entrance and the bus stop at Oxford Road car park in Hay-on-Wye.

Timetables for the shuttle services will be posted at both bus stops.

Day tickets for the shuttle bus are £5 per person, with no limit on the number of journeys. 

This service will run throughout the Festival from Thursday (May 23) to Sunday, June 2.

On the opening day of the festival, the service will run from 12pm to 10.45pm whole on all other days it will operate from 8am, with the last bus departing from the Festival site at 11.15pm. 

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Scheduled bus services

There is a scheduled bus service (Service T14) from Hereford and Brecon to Hay-on-Wye operating six days a week, Mondays to Saturdays.

The 39A Yeomans bus service runs on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays.