School pupils to benefit from free entry to Hay Festival

Pupils across the UK will benefit from free access to the literature, arts, and culture celebration taking place in May and November 2026. 

The funding will enable Hay Festival to continue its free schools programme at the flagship Hay Spring Festival (21st - 31st May) and the Hay Festival Winter Weekend (25th - 29th November). 

The Programme for Schools 2026 will take place on Thursday 21st May (primary) and Friday 22nd May (secondary). KS2 and KS3/4 pupils from state schools across the UK can attend a series of free events on the opening two days of both Hay Festival and Hay Festival Winter Weekend. 

Hay Festival global CEO Julie Finch said: “Hay Festival is a charity for everyone. Our mission is to provide accessible platforms for audiences to engage with culture and exchange new ideas.

“Our learning and engagement projects are a critical part of this, and we are grateful for this commitment from The Moondance Foundation to enable our work to continue and thrive. We are especially pleased to be able to contribute to encouraging more children and young people to read through this project as part of the UK’s National Year of Reading in 2026.”

All events in the schools programme are livestreamed, with supporting teaching materials. There is a catalogue of free-to-watch talks from the last five years, including David Baddiel, Jacqueline Wilson, Julian Clary and Cressida Cowell.

The event also features the Hay Festival Bookshop, where visitors of all ages can browse books and attend signings by notable authors.

The 2026 schools programme schedule has not yet been announced. Tickets for both pupils and teachers are free of charge for state schools and must be booked online.

About Hay Festival

Hay Festival Global brings together voices from the worlds of art, literature, science, politics, music and comedy to listen, talk, debate and create in locations across the world, including Peru, Wales, Kenya and Spain. 

The idea of the festival is to encourage people to share ideas and different perspectives, provoking conversations to create a better world. It has expanded over the years to include musical performances and film previews.