Hay Castle Events

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, Thursday 17^th July

We’re thrilled to welcome Sophie Calon to Hay Castle for a special book signing of her powerful debut memoir, Long Going.

In Long Going, Sophie shares a searingly honest and deeply moving account of her father’s battle with alcoholism and its impact on their family. With lyrical prose and unflinching clarity, she explores grief, resilience, and the long shadow of addiction.

This is a unique opportunity to meet one of Wales’ most compelling new voices, hear her speak about the inspiration behind her work, and get your copy signed.

Whether you're a fan of memoir, interested in stories of healing and hope, or simply love discovering new literary talent—this is an event not to miss!

Books will be available for purchase at the event.

Why not come along and dance to Wuthering Heights on Sunday 20th on the Castle lawn?

All you need to do is turn up on the day - and if you wear red - all the better!

This is part of an international event - The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever.

We (along with thousand of other Kate Bush mad dancers all round the world) will be performing to Wuthering Heights.

Wear red.

The steps are simple, NO dance experience required. Just a love of Kate. If you want to try it at home:


Learn Wuthering Heights Dance

Get ready for a roar-some and jaw-some day of creativity at Hay Castle! Perfect for children and families. This hands-on session invites young artists to sculpt their favourite prehistoric creatures and ocean predators using fun papier-mâché techniques.

Guided by friendly workshop leaders, participants will learn how to build, shape, and decorate their own dinosaurs and sharks—whether it’s a scary spinosaurus or a sleek great white. The workshop encourages imagination, artistic exploration, and a splash of science, all within the inspiring setting of Hay Castle.

No experience is needed, and all materials are provided. Spaces are limited and booking is essential. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Dive into creativity and unleash your inner paleontologist and marine biologist!

Members of Hay Letterpress Guild will be in the Great Hall printing your name beneath a regal crown. They will make letterpress prints, typeset and printed to order, using an iconic Adana tabletop press. Come and see what can be done without the use of electricity!

There will be a charge if you want to print your name but it is free to come and watch and ask questions - we will be in the Great Hall.

Hay Letterpress Guild are Sarah Lane, Graeme Hobbs and Francesca Kay.

Do you remember what year Queen recorded ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’? Do you know where they recorded the biggest song in 1970s British rock history? Join Tiffany Murray and Owen Sheers for an evening of ‘Rock Stars at the Castle’, where we’ll talk Tiffany’s memoir, My Family and Other Rock Stars, listen to the music from the book, and have our very own rock n’ roll quiz (with prizes!) A fun evening for all.

“It's the late 1970s and Tiff lives with her mum, Joan, at Rockfield, the iconic recording studios. This place of legend, where some of the most famous rock albums of all time were recorded, is the background to a freewheeling, ever-changing whirlwind of a childhood. Tiff's days are spent running around the farm, making friends with local wildlife and helping out with the endless array of dishes her mum creates to keep the bands fed. She's looking for a dog, she's looking for a father; but the one constant throughout is her and Joan, building an unconventional family in the most unlikely of locations.

My Family and Other Rock Stars is Tiff's remarkable, truly unique story of growing up in a rural idyll, of Cordon Bleu cookery and of a childhood where the chances of bumping into Freddie Mercury playing piano, or a group of Hell's Angels turning up to record for Lemmy, or even the hope of David Bowie appearing, were as normal as hopscotch and homework.”

Tiffany Murray's writing has appeared in Granta, the Guardian, the Telegraph, Sunday Times Style, GQ, Independent on Sunday and featured on BBC Radio 4. 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, and she currently lives in a forest. My Family and Other Rock Stars is her first memoir. She has adapted it for a TV series.

To tie in with our Welsh Artists of the 20th Century exhibition in the Gallery we are holding a summer workshop for kids to make their own little exhibition.

Come along and choose from a selection of printed and cardboard frames to put around the works that you create. You could make portraits or landscapes and be inspired by the works in the exhibition upstairs.

Children to be accompanied by an adult at all times.

The Three Inch Fools present a largely historical, totally hysterical, brand new Tudor comedie.

Elizabethan theatre is flourishing. But will a brand-new Tudor musical romp, in which Good Queen Bess takes to the stage herself, be the making of this heroine or spell the beginning of her downfall? The stage is set for regicidal rivalries, devious dramatics, and plotting playwrights. Beset by misunderstandings and a script that…let’s just say…needs some work, this production promises to be largely historical, totally hysterical. As the old saying goes…thy show must go-eth on!

★★★★★ – “So entertaining…laugh-out-loud funny”
★★★★★ – “The ultimate British theatrical experience” – Hastings Independent Press
★★★★★ – “Riotously fun. Hugely enjoyable”

This performance is an outdoor performance. We recommend that you bring blankets/chairs/cushions etc. to sit on. Come prepared for the weather with warm coats and waterproofs etc, as the performance will continue come rain come shine! We ask that you don’t bring umbrellas as these can obscure the view for other people in the audience.

We recommend booking tickets for this performance online in advance. For tickets please click here.

These workshops connect with local artist Steph Avery-Reynold’s Vivat Matriarchia Masters
project currently on display at Hay Castle (1st floor mezzanine). The project commemorates
forgotten women of history by creating objects left behind from an imaginary 17th century
matriarchy, led by the remarkable Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673), Duchess of Newcastle-
Upon-Tyne, playwright, fiction writer, scientist and philosopher.

Cavendish imagined her own matriarchy in her proto sci-fi novel The Blazing World (1666)
with microscopic lice-men as her minions. Her passion for microscopes placed her among the
leading scientific thinkers of her day, and her writing reflected her fascination with scale.

The workshop will play with scale in creating drawings and etchings onto acetate and
projecting upon the wall to create shadow portraits. It will also create clay MBE’s using press
clay techniques for your chosen heroines and heroes most deserving of your crafted award.

These workshops are aimed at families and will take between one and two hours.

No previous experience is required - children are to be accompanied at all times.

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Come and experience the power of biochar—an ancient practice with meaningful impact in sustainable agriculture. In this lively and down-to-earth session, Lottie from Earthly Biochar will share her passion for this fascinating material, which has roots in the Amazon basin where Indigenous communities created rich, fertile soils known as terra preta.

Now, biochar is being rediscovered as a key tool for regenerative farming, helping to restore soil health, retain water, cycle nutrients, and lock carbon away in our soils for the long term.

Through a live demonstration and practical talk, you’ll learn:

• What biochar is and how it works in the soil
• How to make your own biochar with simple, low-emission methods
• Why biochar matters—for plants, compost, climate, and community
• Stories from farms and growers already putting it to use

Whether you're a grower, gardener, composter, or curious about climate solutions, this is an engaging session that brings ancient knowledge into modern hands. Expect sparks (the good kind) and plenty of inspiration.
The kiln demonstration will take place outside so please dress appropriately for whatever weather we have in May!

Tickets are £16 for waged adults and £12 for unwaged adults or students.

PLEASE DO BUY A TICKET IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COME AS WE NEED TO GET ENOUGH PEOPLE IN ORDER TO ALLOW THE EVENT TO GO AHEAD

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Clyro-based artist Steph Avery-Reynolds discusses the historical research and creative process for her commemorative Masters project Vivat Matriarchia, part of which, Perihelia, is currently on display at the castle.

The work realises found artefacts from an imagined 17^th century matriarchal society, populated by real overlooked women of history. The central figure is polymath Margaret Cavendish (playwright, scientist, philosopher) but also commemorated are Maria-Clara Eimmart, the first recorded female astronomer, a century before the better-known Caroline Herschel; and Anna and Susanna Lister, illustrators of over 1000 shells and molluscs for their naturalist father’s text Historiae Conchyliorum, expert copper engravers from the ages of 13 and 15 years old.

The talk will be illustrated with their work, as well as the research and process behind the elements created for the project in ceramics, glass engraving, coins, textiles and wallpaper.

Join us for a relaxed morning walk that weaves through the stunning landscape surrounding Hay-on-Wye—a town steeped in history and perched right on the border between England and Wales. Starting and finishing at Hay Castle, this gentle-paced guided walk takes in riverside footpaths, parts of the famous Offa’s Dyke trail, and the tranquil Dulas Brook, which marks the national border.

We’ll visit the peaceful Cusop Church, the final resting place of Richard Booth—‘The King of Hay’—whose eccentric legacy lives on in a fascinating exhibition inside the castle. After our walk, we’ll return to the castle for tea or coffee and enjoy an exclusive 30-minute ‘Director’s Tour’ led by Castle Director Tom True.

Whether you’re local and want to rediscover the countryside on your doorstep, or a visitor keen to understand Hay’s unique history and setting, this walk is a perfect way to connect with the land, the past, and others.…

We are proud to announce the birth of a new two act Americana show featuring the undeniable talents of Home Of The Free and Chuck Micallef.

Home Of The Free is a collaboration between Dave Luke and Alex Valentine, two Londoners who relocated to Presteigne (nicknamed ‘home of the free’) in Mid-Wales. Lush harmonies and virtuoso guitar playing combine to create a unique blend of Country, Contemporary Folk and Americana. Dave Luke served his musical apprenticeship in award-winning London-based Country Rock band The Coyotes.

Since relocating to Mid-Wales in the 1990s he has toured Europe extensively in a variety of bands and played at legendary USA institutions such as the Grand Ole Opry, The Ryman Auditorium and Kerrville Folk Festival. Alex was born and grew up in Camden, now living off-grid in a small wooden house surrounded by an ancient oak woodland. To date he has made eight albums on the Struck Dumb Records label.

First discovered by Bob Harris on GLR he has since been featured by Johnnie Walker, Jonathan Ross and Dermot O’Leary on BBC Radio 2 and on 6 Music. Chuck Micallef paid his dues in the Coffee Houses of his native Toronto, an experience that provided him with a first-hand education in the craft of the Singer-Songwriter. In the early 1980s he recorded a clutch of 45s of his own songs, produced by Ron Dann and engineered by Bob Federer, which scored in both the Canadian and U.S.A. national charts. His 30 year tenure in the U.K. has yielded a live recording in 1996, the acclaimed 2007 album The Moon, The Stars & The Sun, and an enthusiastic involvement with the British roots music community, having organised two Community Music Festivals, Festival in the Forest Barton under Needwood 1996-2001 and One Day In May Newcastle-under-Lyme 2009-2010.

Home of the Free

Step out from the gates of Hay Castle and into the ancient landscape that surrounds it. This easy morning ramble takes you on a loop through peaceful meadows, leafy lanes, and historic border paths with views of the Black Mountains. Follow sections of Offa’s Dyke and the Dulas Brook—the natural divide between England and Wales—as we uncover the castle’s wider story in the landscape.

The walk also includes a stop at Cusop Church, where Richard Booth—Hay’s self-declared ‘King’ and father of the town’s bookish fame—is buried. Back at the castle, enjoy complimentary tea or coffee before joining Director Tom True for a special 30-minute tour, giving insider insight into this iconic building's past, present, and future.

This walk is part of a special partnership between Walk Hay and Hay Castle. It's designed to bring locals and visitors together to enjoy the benefits of fresh air, gentle exercise, shared stories, and…

Following the critical acclaim of their debut album Source of the Severn, the Will Barnes Quartet returns with Outside the Light—a bold and expressive new chapter in their artistic journey. This second album deepens the group’s exploration of the interplay between jazz improvisation and the evocative landscapes of Mid Wales and the Welsh Marches. Through a collection of original compositions, the album weaves lyrical beauty with intricate rhythmic interplay.
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Led by guitarist and composer Will Barnes, the quartet features pianist Jack Gonsalez, bassist Aidan Thorne, and drummer James Batten—an ensemble recognised for its tight chemistry and compelling live performances. Their sound pays homage to jazz greats such as Wes Montgomery, Pat Metheny, and Oscar Peterson, while forging a distinct voice rooted in contemporary expression.

The quartet has performed at major UK venues and festivals, including Pizza Express Jazz Club (Soho), Hay Festival, Brecon Jazz Festival, and BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends. Source of the Severn earned praise from critics, with MOJO highlighting their “springy deftness… cool precision… serious chops,” and The Jazz Mann describing the album as “evocative, intelligent… contemporary.”
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Outside the Light showcases a group in full creative stride, offering audiences an immersive evening of modern jazz that’s both emotionally resonant and musically sophisticated.