Hay Festival criticized for drifting

Zoe Strimpel’s May 22 column in The Spectator has pushed the Hay Festival back into a familiar argument about what the event is for. Her piece said the festival, long associated with writers and books in the Welsh border town of Hay-on-Wye, now gives too much space to politics, activism and issue-driven debate. The criticism landed while the 2026 festival is under way, with organizers running an 11-day program of more than 500 events from May 21 to May 31. Hay Festival’s own materials describe the event as a gathering for voices from literature, science, politics, music and comedy. ### What exactly did the Spectator column argue? Zoe Strimpel wrote on May 22 that “The Hay Festival has forgotten about books,” under the subheading, “The event is designed for political grandstanding not literature.” She argued that the balance of the program now favors public-affairs themes and ideological signaling over literary focus. (spectator.com) Strimpel pointed to the festival’s themes and event mix as evidence. In the piece, she cited strands including “Hay Green,” “South to North Conversations,” and memorial lectures on “truth,” “representation,” and “nuclear threat,” and said those choices reflected a broader shift in emphasis. ### What does the festival itself say it is? (spectator.com) Hay Festival Global says on its website that it brings together “diverse voices” from “art, literature, science, politics, music and comedy” to “listen, talk, debate and create.” On the same site, it also says Hay Festival “brings readers and writers together to share stories and ideas.” Julie Finch, Hay Festival Global’s chief executive, said when the 2026 full program was launched on March 9 that the event would feature “great writers, performers, experts, and the next generation of artists and activists.” Finch also said the festival would include “the best new fiction and non-fiction” alongside commentary on “our changing world” from politicians, economists, historians and scientists. (hayfestival.com) (spectator.com) ### What is on the 2026 program that feeds the criticism? The March 9 program announcement listed headliners including Emma Thompson, Malala Yousafzai, Gisèle Pelicot, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Tim Berners-Lee, Nicola Sturgeon, David Miliband and Ian McEwan. That list itself shows the mix at issue in the debate: novelists and poets appear alongside activists, former politicians, broadcasters and policy figures. (hayfestival.com) The live festival schedule also shows that range in practice. On opening day, May 21, the program included a panel with Dallas Campbell, Tony Robinson and Katherine Rundell; a live BBC Radio 4 “Loose Ends”; and Tim Berners-Lee in conversation with Financial Times innovation editor John Thornhill about the web and artificial intelligence. (hayfestival.com) ### Is this only about books versus politics? Hay Festival has presented itself for years as more than a conventional book fair, and its current branding makes that explicit. The organization’s homepage says it convenes debate across multiple fields, not only publishing. The current dispute is therefore less about whether books are present than about proportion. (hayfestival.com) Strimpel’s complaint was that literature now competes with political and activist programming in a way she considers dominant, while the festival’s published description presents that breadth as part of its mission. (hayfestival.com) ### Why did this argument travel so quickly? The timing helped. Strimpel’s column was published on May 22, one day after the 2026 festival opened, when attendees and critics could compare the argument with the live schedule and headline names. The debate also comes after earlier rows over Hay Festival’s political positioning and sponsorship. (spectator.com) Strimpel referred in her column to the festival’s 2024 sponsorship dispute involving Baillie Gifford, a controversy that had already drawn writers and campaigners into arguments over activism and cultural institutions. ### What happens next? Hay Festival’s 39th spring edition runs in Hay-on-Wye through May 31, according to the festival website. The full program remains posted online, where readers can track the remaining mix of author events, political conversations, broadcasts and performances that sits at the center of the current dispute. (hayfestival.com) (spectator.com)