Past Events

With more than 30 individual makers on show, join us at the Castle for an extravaganza of ideas for Christmas.

Treat your friends, family, or yourself from a range of unique and inspiring crafts by local makers from ceramics, jewellery, glass, baskets, food gifts, clothing, photography, painting and much, much more.

Free entry all day

Are you curious about Shakespeare? Would you like to learn more, share what you know and 'Have-A-Go' in an informal environment with a like-minded group? Come for tea, a chat and a bash at Shakespeare! Fortnightly sessions around Mid-Wales.

Hay Shantymen are a rollicking bunch of landlubbers from the east coast of Wales.

Their roots might be on the banks of the river near Hay-on-Wye but the Hay Shantymen travel countrywide, singing traditional shanties and other foot-stomping seafaring songs in seaside pubs and at summer festivals. Among recent highlights are Hay Festival, Falmouth and Bristol Shanty Festivals, and Latitude.

Hay Shantymen was founded in 2016 by Fiona Evans and continues under the expert musical leadership of Grant Olding. They are united by strong friendships, a love of singing, the sea and good beer - not necessarily in that order.

Hay and District Dial a Ride are celebrating 30 years of service and this is a fundraiser for the amazing work that they do in supporting people in the area. Established in December 1994, they help overcome transport problems for members, young or old, with disabilities of all kinds and also those who simply do not have access to a car or to public transport as long as they are living within a 9 mile radius of Hay-on-Wye.

The aim is to help our customers maintain an independent lifestyle, reducing loneliness and social/rural isolation and enabling residents to feel part of a thriving community. They are more than just a transport service, access to health and community services is a vital part of physical and mental health and wellbeing.

Come and make a fungi foraging basket which you can use to collect fungi, fruit, vegetables or flowers.

As part of UK Fungus Day we are holding two workshops with mushrooms as the theme - this one will provide you with a beautiful foraging basket at the end of the day. You can also make a gorgeous paper mushroom with Kate Kato on Sunday 6th.

All materials provided.

Parking is available in the main Oxford Road carpark for £4 per day (cash and cards accepted)

This workshop runs all day with breaks for tea and coffee and lunch.

There will be the opportunity to make tea or coffee or you can purchase drinks downstairs in our café. There will be a break for lunch - please bring a packed lunch or you can eat in our café or elsewhere in Hay.

Herefordshire Food Alliance present the inspiring story of young British farmers standing up against the industrial food system.

Local food buffet and film followed by a Q&A - with local farmers, growers and food industry experts.

The panel includes Humphrey Wells, Rashid Benoy, Will Sawday and Katy Hardy.

Tickets are £5 and include a light buffet of Herefordshire food.

Click here for tickets or call 07851 445412

With thanks to Herefordshire Council.

The tickets are in USD as Kinema who hold the license for the film are a US company but rest assured that the film showing is taking place in Hay on Wye UK.

We are very pleased to be taking part in h.Art this year with three artists exhibiting inside Hay Castle.

We have the following artists:

Maggy Roberts - paintings in the Café Gallery

Philomine Wales - prints in the Printmaker in Focus Gallery

Billie Charity - photographs on the 2nd floor Sculpture Gallery

9 days of joyful inspiration, unique finds, and the chance to buy direct from the creator. Meet them in their creative habitats, pop up shows in lots of unexpected places and galleries. Many artists only open their work spaces once a year, giving you a rare insight into their creative lives and their individual practice. You can chat, just browse, buy, or commission direct.

Come and learn about stop motion animation and make your own short film.

If you have an Ipad that you could bring you can then easily take the whole project home. Otherwise a mobile phone is just as good.

We will have materials for making animations and will learn a bit about the history of animation, looking in particular at the work of Aardman studios fom Bristol.

The workshop is an hour and a half and is limited to 7 attendees.

Due to the nature of the workshop it is recommended for children between the ages of 6 and 13.

It's a hot summer on Amity Island, a small community whose main business is its beaches. When new Sheriff Martin Brody discovers the remains of a shark attack victim, his first inclination is to close the beaches to swimmers. This doesn't sit well with Mayor Larry Vaughn and several of the local businessmen. Brody backs down to his regret as that weekend a young boy is killed by the predator.
The dead boy's mother puts out a bounty on the shark and Amity is soon swamped with amateur hunters and fisherman hoping to cash in on the reward. A local fisherman with much experience hunting sharks, Quint, offers to hunt down the creature for a hefty fee. Soon Quint, Brody and Matt Hooper from the Oceanographic Institute are at sea hunting the Great White shark. As Brody succinctly surmises after their first encounter with the creature, they're going to need a bigger boat.

'JAWS is not just a film; it's a cultural phenomenon that redefined the thriller genre and created the summer blockbuster. The tale of a great white shark terrorizing the small island community of Amity remains a cinematic classic.'

This film is rated 12A (to see the BBFC classification please click here)

Tickets are £15 for adults and £9 for under 18s

(Ticket price includes entry into Hay Castle for 1 year)

Doors and bar open at 7pm - film begins at 8.30pm subject to light

Outdoor screening on the castle lawn of a cult classic based on the William Goldman novel. Prepare yourself for a tale of True Love and High Adventure! Featuring fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...

A fairy tale adventure of a swashbuckling farmhand named Westley (Cary Elwes) and his true love (Robin Wright) Princess Buttercup. Accompanied by companions befriended along the way, Westley must rescue Buttercup from the evil Prince Humperdinck (Christopher Sarandon) Proving that true love will always triumph.

This film is rated PG (to see the BBFC rating please click here)

Tickets are £15 for adults and £9 for under 18s

(Ticket price includes entry into Hay Castle for 1 year)

Doors and bar open at 7pm - film begins at 8.30pm subject to light

An exclusive one day writing workshop exploring story writing, exploring themes from your own life and memories. If you have the urge to write but don’t know where to begin or have made a start but need fresh impetus to push on through to the end of a draft, this day is for you. Drawing on fiction and memoir, we will play with the toolbox a new writer needs: character, story, structure, and setting. Tiffany will lead you through practical writing exercises, and the day will be supportive, productive, creative, and fun.

Tiffany Murray’s memoir, My Family and Other Rock Stars is was published this year by Little Brown. It was Sunday Times, Daily Mail and The Independent Book of the Week and The Observer Book of the Day. Her novels Diamond Star Halo, Happy Accidents and Sugar Hall, have variously been shortlisted for the Wodehouse Bollinger Prize and received the Roger Deakin Award for nature writing. Tiffany has been a Hay Festival Fiction Fellow, a Fulbright scholar, and a Senior Lecturer. Her series, ‘Hulda’s Café’ is available on BBC Radio 4.

A rare opportunity to make your own piece of wearable art with Andrew Logan himself!

Join world renowned sculptor, Andrew Logan for a creative, fun and sparkling afternoon making your very own brooch inspired by Andrew's iconic jewellery designs. The session will begin with Andrew Logan guiding you through his creative process and design techniques. Andrew encourages you to bring small mementos of your own to incorporate into your design to truly personalise your creation. Your wearable flower will be ready for you to take home at the end of the workshop.

All materials will be provided and included in the price of the Workshop. You will be supplied with a metal flower base, resin, mirror, glitter and decorative items from Andrew's collection. You can also bring in any items you would like to include in your piece.

A wonderful and unique opportunity to be inspired by Andrew's flair and imagination, and to let your own creativity bloom and blossom!

This Workshop is suitable for everyone aged 16 +, no previous art experience is necessary. Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment!

Andrew Logan

Andrew Logan is a British sculptor, jeweller, portraitist, painter and performance artist. The inventor and perpetual host of Alternative Miss World – an outrageous, iconic and countercultural art and fashion event established in 1972; Andrew is also the sole exhibitor at The Andrew Logan Museum of Sculpture, in Berriew, Powys, which he founded in 1991.

Part of a unique school of English eccentrics, Andrew Logan’s work crosses cultures and embodies artistic fantasy and creativity in a unique and unprecedented way. Throughout all of Andrew’s work, he explores transformation, joy, celebration and beauty. His large-scale sculptures and portraits can be seen and found in art collections and exhibitions across the world. His smaller scale, wearable art sculptures are unique, wonderful and collectable jewellery pieces that allow people the chance to take a part of Andrew’s world with them wherever they go.

This workshop is part of our April Ashley season. April was a friend of Andrew's and had a large collection of his wearable sculpture pieces. Some of these are on display as part of our exhibition April: A Lady in Hay which runs until September 22.

You’re invited to Hay Pride 2024 at Hay Castle & The Globe at Hay.

Being LGBTQ+ in small towns and rural areas can be challenging and isolating.

Join us to celebrate our diversity, with events and spaces created intentionally for our LGBTQ+ community and allies.

More information on Instagram and Facebook

Section 28 and Me Wales

Come and make a foraging basket which you can use to collect fruit, vegetables or flowers.

This workshop runs all day with breaks for tea and coffee and lunch.
Please feel free to bring a packed lunch or have lunch in our cafe.

All materials provided.

Join bestselling author Barbara Erskine - The Lady of Hay - to learn about researching a historical novel in our one day writing workshop.

There is much fascination and surprise to be found in historical research. Whether you are an established writer of historical fiction, a beginner or just a lover of history, the subject is addictive and rewarding.

Barbara will share her own experiences of what she has learned and failed to learn over her years of writing history-based novels and encourage an informal discussion about the intricacies and pitfalls involved; the excitement and danger of diving down rabbit holes; the best ways of channelling a passion for meeting the real or imagined inhabitants of the past: when to take short cuts and when that can spell disaster; how to pull up messages from hoofbeats and gas lamps and stones; the fine line between fiction and biography ; whether it’s better to use books or on-line sources and much more.

And maybe there will be talk of ghosts . . .

PAY WHAT YOU CAN

We would like our events to be as accessible as possible while also making sure that we cover costs and are starting to introduce 'pay what you can' tickets.

We have tickets available at £75 (reduced rate), £100 (actual cost), and £125 (pay it forward).

Consider contributing more on the scale if you:have the ability to comfortably meet all of your basic needs

• have investments, retirement accounts, or inherited money
• travel recreationally
• own the home you live in
• have a relatively high degree of earning power due to level of education (or gender and racial privilege, class background, etc.)

Consider contributing less on the scale if you:

• have difficulty covering basic expenses
• are supporting children or have other dependents
• are an elder with limited financial support
• have unstable housing and/or limited access to reliable transportation

If you select an amount at the higher end of the scale, you will make possible future events and activities and support our volunteers who are generously contributing time. Thank you!

Kate Bliss, a regular face on BBC antiques programmes and an independent jewellery and fine art valuer is hosting a free ‘drop-in’ Valuation Day for jewellery and silver as well as other antiques and contemporary fine art.

Have you recently inherited items you know nothing about? Do you have jewellery you never wear? Kate offers a unique opportunity to find out more about your valuables including their potential value.

A Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, Kate has over 20 years experience valuing single items to unique collections and whole house contents. Whether it’s the right time to realise some assets or simply de-clutter, Kate will provide you with a verbal consultation and arrange items for sale if suitable.

Drop-in for a free valuation in the Clore Learning Space 10am to 4pm, Friday 19^th April.

We’re delighted to announce that the celebrated Library of Mistakes will be in residence at Hay Castle, 1st-3rd March 2024
Join historians, financial experts, investment sages for a wealth of wisdom, and enjoy a weekend of financial booms and busts, bubbles, swindles, panics and crashes.

A Weekend of Mistakes that offers you insights from the past - and some key lessons for your financial future!

An Edinburgh-based charity, the Library of Mistakes is dedicated to learning from the lessons of financial history – to better inform the present and help navigate the future. Since opening in 2014, it has developed from a specialist library to having an international following for its online events, webinars and podcasts on both historic and contemporary issues.

For information on each of the speakers please click here

Friday 1 March

5:30pm	WELCOME DRINKS (PREMIUM Ticket holders) Read More
6:30pm	The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest Read More	Edward Chancellor

Saturday 2 March

8:30am	Why banks are different and why they're important (PREMIUM) Read More	Ian Fraser, Jared Bibler (chair: Paul Greatbatch)
9:45am	The Madness of Crowds Read More	Will Quinn in conversation with Russell Napier
11am	Deception: The discreet charm of the con artist and why we fall for them Read More	Chris Swinson & Sir Philip Augar (chair: Alice Sherwood)
11am	The Ukraine and Gaza (parallel session) Read More	Helen Thompson & Nick Butler (chair Sir Martin Donnelly)
12:15pm	The financial plight of Sir Walter Scott and other cautionary tales from north of the border Read More	Ray Perman in conversation with George Littlejohn
12:15pm	The Energy Transition - myths, mistakes and realities (parallel session) Read More	Nick Butler, Helen Thompson (chair: Tamim Bayoumi)
1:15pm	LUNCH
1:15pm	Investment lunch: Interest rates - up? Down? Flat? All of the above? (PREMIUM) Read More	Ed Chancellor, Merryn Somerset Webb & Russell Napier
2:30pm	Banks: A confidence trick that works … most of the time Read More	Jared Bibler, Ian Fraser & Ray Perman (chair: Sir Philip Augar)
3:45pm	How countries go bust: The Asian Financial Crisis and the Euro Crisis Read More	Merryn Somerset Webb, Russell Napier & Tamim Bayoumi
4:45pm	The complex ethics of banking: who gets the blame? Read More	Jared Bibler, Ian Fraser, Sir Philip Augar (chair: Ray Perman)
6pm	Networking drinks (PREMIUM) Read More	Premium tickets
7:30pm	Orderly markets in unlikely places - piracy, kidnapping, ransomware and other weekend hobbies Read More	Anja Shortland (chair: Alice Sherwood)
8:45pm	A night-cap: The Leith Whisky Bubble of 1898 Read More	Paul Kosmetatos

Sunday 3 March

8:45am	Investment Breakfast with Merryn Somerset Webb & guests (PREMIUM) Read More	Premium tickets only
10am	Self-deception and classic and predictable investor mistakes Read More	Herman Brodie in conversation with Alice Sherwood
11:15am	Investment panel: profiting from the mistakes of others Read More	Merryn Somerset Webb, Russell Napier, Ed Chancellor (chair: Paul Greatbatch)
12:30pm	Epic Fails: The mistakes that didn't have to happen Read More	Chris Swinson & Russell Napier

If you would like to be involved in shaping future Weekends, do please contact us for further information on Founder Supporters and Sponsors. To book a call to discuss opportunities, please email Paul or Alice on info@haycastletrust.org

If you would like to be put on the list for cancellations, or hear about future Weekend of Mistakes events please email info@haycastletrust.org

If you are looking for information on accommodation please see FIND ME A BED

An exclusive one-day crime writing workshop with Kim Sherwood.

Kim Sherwood was commissioned to write a new series of James Bond books, becoming the first female author in the series of spy novels created by Ian Fleming. She is the creative writing lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and her first novel Testament (2018) won the Bath Novel Award and Harper’s Bazaar Big Book Award. In 2019, she was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. Dame Hilary Mantel called Kim "a writer of capacity, potency and sophistication.”

Join Kim to explore how crime fiction comes together from a writer’s perspective with discussion and practical exercises on creating compelling characters, structuring story and developing setting. Whether you're just beginning or you've been living with an idea for years, this workshop will offer a practical look at the genre with guidance on how to make it your own.