Hay Castle Events

Join world-renowned artist Rebecca Louise Law and be part of the making of a new nature-based artwork to be installed at Hay Castle in Spring 2027.

Rebecca works with communities to create striking installations made from thousands of individual flowers and plants that reflect the beauty of the local landscape.

We are running free, hands-on foraging and wiring workshops, accessible to all, leaving from Hay Castle at 9.30am to collect materials nearby. These will be followed by a wiring session with Rebecca, creating clusters that will become part of the artwork.

The workshops offer a unique opportunity to explore the local landscape, experience Rebecca’s creative process first-hand, and contribute to a major new artwork for Hay Castle.

Each workshop will run from 9.30am to 1pm. Workshops are free but places need to be booked.

More places being added to Sat & Sun workshops due to popular demand.

Come and meet some of the animals from The Small Breeds Farm Park near Kington.

They will be bringing guinea pigs, pygmy goats, sheep and long-eared goats along to Hay Castle lawns where you can say hello.

This was due to take place earlier in the summer but was postponed due to the very high temperatures.

Join Dan Ryan for a fungi hunt. Whether you’re a curious beginner or experienced mycologist, all are welcome.

Dress for the weather, wear sturdy boots and, if you have them, bring a basket, small containers, penknife and hand lens.

NB: This isn't a forage for food, but a chance to get a closer look at Hay's rich fungal diversity, and collect specimens to display in the castle.

Meet at Hay Castle Lawn for 12:00 departure

Did you know that fungal ‘forays’ first started a few miles from Hay? In 1868, Herefordshire's Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club held what it called "a foray among the funguses", followed by a dinner made from the day's finds. It proved so popular that it ran every year for over two decades, and helped lay the groundwork for the science of mycology as we know it.

Dr Nathan Smith, senior mycologist at the National Museum of Wales, has spent years digging into stories like this one, and the people behind them. In this talk, he explores where our knowledge of fungi really came from, and why this corner of Wales and the Marches has such a strong claim to being where it started.

Expect stories of drinking, betrayal, and a fair bit of mushroom-eating. There may even be a song or two!

After last year’s sell-out talk, we’re delighted to welcome Ali Mac — AKA The FUNgi Guy — back to Fungi Town for another fungi-filled adventure, delivered in his own wonderfully inimitable style. Expect games, puppets, questionable props and plenty of audience participation. In Ali’s world, learning about fungi is anything but a chore.

Join artist and printmaker Yuli Gates for a hands-on introduction to the art of lino printmaking, with a mushroom twist. In this workshop, you’ll learn traditional carving and printing techniques while exploring the fascinating process of creating natural printmaking inks from mushrooms, as detailed in the book and website which Yuli illustrated:

The Mushroom Color Atlas.

There are more species of fungi than plants and vertebrates combined, and almost all of them work unseen. Without fungi, life on land could not survive.

Professor Lynne Boddy MBE has spent her career studying this hidden kingdom. She once built a scale model of Britain entirely out of soil, using blocks of fungus-colonised wood, sized to match, to stand in for its cities. “The fungi grew out from the ‘cities’ and made the motorway network” she said. “You could see the M5, M4, M1, M6.”

Lynne has been a driving force behind UK Fungus Day and is one of the UK's leading fungal ecologists and most engaging communicators of fungal science. In this masterclass, she introduces the kingdom that quietly runs the world above and below our feet.

Lion's Mane, Reishi, Cordyceps, Turkey Tail: medicinal mushrooms are everywhere and promising miraculous results, but what does the evidence actually say? This beginner-friendly talk unpicks the evidence from the hype, explores the modern and traditional uses of medicinal fungi, and looks at how to identify good products.

A fascinating discussion between Kit Ondaatje Rolls, Hania Opienski and Oli Genn-Bash.

Professor Andy Letcher of Exeter University discusses with Nina Lyon the cultural history of the magic mushroom. There is renewed interest in the potential of psychedelics to address a number of stubborn mental illnesses, as well as a burgeoning psychedelic underground, driven especially by people travelling to the Amazon to consume ayahuasca in healing ceremonies.

But what about our own psychoactive mushrooms, the Liberty Cap (Psilocybe semilanceata), and the Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)? Are there traditions of local consumption and if so, how far back do they go? In this talk Andy will challenge many of the myths that have arisen around magic mushrooms, answering questions such as: were the builders of Stonehenge tripping and was Santa Claus originally a mushroom munching shaman?

Fungi have long been the forgotten kingdom of conservation. Too hidden, too strange, too easy to miss. They weren’t even identified as their own kingdom of life - neither plant nor animal - until 1969!

Cardiff University's Dr Sarah Christofides is on a mission to change how we think about fungi and their importance to the natural world. In this talk, discover the fungal species driving a major new conservation effort, learn why this matters and how you can get involved.

Somewhere in Kew Gardens sits a room holding 1.25 million dried fungi, roughly 60% of every fungal species known to science. It is the largest and most scientifically important collection of its kind in the world, and Lee Davies has spent his career running it.

From expeditions in Madagascar to teaching fieldwork techniques to visiting scientists, Lee has built a fascinating working life around fungi in all their weird and surprising diversity.

Join Fungi Town's Dave Prescott for a conversation with Lee about the specimens, the expeditions, and the fungi he's come to know best.

What would a poem look like if it grew instead of being written? Mycologist and poet Nathan Smith has spent years finding out, developing forms of poetry shaped by the way fungi actually grow, branching, spreading, and reproducing without a fixed centre.

In this workshop, held fittingly in Hay’s Poetry Bookshop, Nathan introduces fungally-informed poetic structures and practices, and guides you through writing your own. No previous knowledge of fungi or poetry required. Just curiosity, and a pen and paper.

Poetry Bookshop, The Pavement, Lion Street, Hay-on-Wye, HR3 5BU

Saturday 3 October, 6-7pm

The Puff Ball is Fungi Town's big party on Saturday night at the Globe, featuring a set from local DJ and permaculture farmer Redwood - expect highly danceable underground electronic, breaks, afro house techno vibe….

There will be plenty of drinks including mushroom cocktails available and also a live action mushroom dance to Fungi Town's signature tune, brought to you by semi-professional line dancers Johnny 'Shapes' Furze and Dave 'Shapes' Prescott (disclaimer: Johnny and Dave are not semi-professional line dancers).

Feel free to dress in your most ridiculous mushroom-inspired clothes. Feel free, also, to bring puffballs, real or improvised.

Most of Britain’s mature oak trees carry heart-rot, a slow hollowing of the trunk caused by fungi. Far from being a disease to fear, heart-rot is one of the reasons the trees survive as long as they do, and provide one of the richest of woodland habitats.

Rich Wright has over 20 years of mycological experience, having held posts at Kew, Cardiff University and Plantlife. His research has taken him deep into the hollows of Britain's oldest oak trees, characterising the community of fungi that live there, and understanding how we can better protect them in the future.

In this talk, Rich rethinks decay, not as an ending, but as part of how ancient oaks, and the woodland around them, keep going.