Hay Festival

What Hay Festival does

Hay Festival is a UK-registered non-profit (Hay Festival Foundation Ltd, charity number 1070073, company limited by guarantee) that produces literary and cultural festivals in multiple countries. Founded in 1987 in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, the organization now operates a global portfolio of festivals and forums in locations including Wales, Mexico, Spain, Ukraine, Peru, Colombia, Kenya, and Norway, supplemented by touring After Hours events across UK cities, a Winter Weekend edition in Hay-on-Wye, and regional Forums in cities such as Sevilla, Dallas, Medellín, and Panama City. Its audiences are literature, arts, science, politics, and culture enthusiasts, with secondary programming for schools and the education sector.

The core product is the annual Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, complemented by the Hay Festival Global network, the Nairobi Litfest (co-presented with Book Bunk), the Hay Festival Kunstsilo festival in Norway, and the Hay Festival Forums sub-brand. The underlying digital product is Hay Festival Anytime, a subscription-based platform (GBP 20/year) that hosts thousands of audio and video recordings from past events, organized by festival, genre, and year. Additional sub-brands include the Hay Festival Book Club, the Membership program, the online merchandise Shop, and a Donations portal. The technology stack centers on standard web streaming and e-commerce infrastructure; no proprietary AI or ML components are disclosed.

Hay Festival's revenue model blends transactional and recurring streams: direct ticket sales for in-person events (e.g., GBP 14 standard, GBP 10 concession for After Hours Birmingham), the GBP 20/year Anytime subscription, an annual membership with priority booking, tiered individual donations (GBP 20/50/100), merchandise sales, and a multi-tier sponsorship stack (Principal, Global, Education, Media, Project Partners). The organization is supported by public funders including Arts Council England and Arts Council of Wales, alongside corporate principal partner Airbnb, and global partners such as the British Council, Open Society Foundations, Instituto Cervantes, and the Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. On 1 February 2022, operations were legally transferred from Hay Festival of Literature and Arts Ltd to Hay Festival Foundation Ltd, consolidating the non-profit under a single charitable entity ahead of the 40th anniversary in 2027.

Name

Hay Festival

Legal name

Hay Festival Foundation Ltd

Website

https://hayfestival.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hay Festival Foundation Ltd is a UK-registered charity that runs a global network of literary and cultural festivals in locations including Wales, Spain, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Kenya, and Norway, plus the Anytime digital archive (GBP 20/year) and the After Hours touring series, serving literature, arts, and education audiences worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary and Arts Festivals

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events without Facilities (711320), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations (BPAGAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Theatre & Storytelling Festivals (MPAGAEAI), Virtual Community Festivals & Cultural Events (Online Celebrations) (MPAGAOAK)

Keywords

• Literary festivals
• Arts and culture events
• Digital content streaming
• Festival subscription platform
• Cultural education programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Hereford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Festival Ticket Sales: Direct sales of tickets for in-person festival events across all global locations, including main festivals, forums, and touring After Hours events.
2. Hay Festival Anytime Subscription: Annual subscription service providing on-demand access to recorded festival content. Priced at £20.00 per year with subscription and login options.
3. Membership Program: Tiered membership offering benefits including priority booking before general release, plus other exclusive benefits.
4. Donations: Philanthropic contributions accepted at various levels (£20, £50, £100) to support the festival's future and mission.
5. Shop/Merchandise: Online shop selling festival merchandise and gift items.
6. Sponsorships: Partnership with corporate sponsors at various tiers: Principal Partner, Funders, Global Partners, Global Broadcast Partner, Education Partners, Media Partners, and Project Partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hay Festival organizes and runs literary and arts festivals, beginning with its flagship annual event in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, and now extending to international festivals and forums across Europe, Latin America, Africa, and North America. The organization sells event tickets, an annual digital subscription (Hay Festival Anytime at £20) giving on-demand access to thousands of recorded festival sessions, a tiered membership program, and festival merchandise, and supplements earned income with donations and corporate sponsorships.

Product overview

Hay Festival operates a multi-product platform centered on literary and arts festivals. The core offering is the annual Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, complemented by Hay Festival Global—a network of international festivals in Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Peru, Kenya, Ukraine, Norway, and other locations. Supporting products include Hay Festival Anytime (a subscription-based digital archive of event recordings), Hay Festival After Hours (touring live events), Hay Festival Forums (regional events), the Hay Festival Book Club, and the Nairobi Litfest co-presented with Book Bunk. Additional offerings include the Shop (merchandise), Membership program, and Donations portal. The company also operates Hay Festival Kunstsilo in Norway and the Winter Weekend edition.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hay Festival Anytime: Digital platform offering audio and video recordings of Hay Festival events worldwide, with subscription access to thousands of recordings from festivals around the world.
• Hay Festival After Hours
• Hay Festival Global

Products and services

• Hay Festival (Hay-on-Wye) Annual literary and arts festival in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, bringing together writers, artists, scientists, and performers across multiple venues for talks, debates, and performances. Open to the general public via ticket purchase.
• Hay Festival Anytime Subscription-based digital platform giving annual on-demand access to thousands of audio and video recordings of Hay Festival events worldwide, organized by festival, genre, and year. Available globally to subscribers.
• Hay Festival Global (international festival network) Network of international literary and arts festivals in Mexico, Spain, Ukraine, Peru, Colombia, Kenya, Norway, and the UK, expanding the Hay Festival format to additional global locations with local programming.
• Hay Festival After Hours Touring one-evening live events across UK cities, featuring books, music, and spoken word performances in a festival-branded format. Tickets sold individually per event.
• Hay Festival Book Club Curated book club offering literary selections with exclusive content and author engagement, structured around the festival's broader programming for readers and members.
• Nairobi Litfest Annual Festival of Ideas in Nairobi, Kenya, co-presented by Hay Festival and Book Bunk, focused on South-to-South cultural exchange and contemporary intellectual themes.
• Hay Festival Kunstsilo Festival of ideas held in Kristiansand, Norway, in partnership with the Kunstsilo museum, featuring voices from art, literature, science, politics, music, and comedy.
• Hay Festival Winter Weekend Annual winter edition of the Hay Festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Wales during November, complementing the main spring festival with a smaller-scale programme of talks and events.
• Hay Festival Membership Annual membership programme offering priority booking access before general ticket release, plus other exclusive benefits for individual supporters of the festival.
• Hay Festival Shop Online store selling festival-branded merchandise, gifts, and related products through the official website.
• Donations programme Donation programme allowing supporters to contribute tiered contributions (£20, £50, £100 and other amounts) to secure the festival's continued programming and charitable mission.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered principal partner, global partner, media partner and core.

• Airbnbprincipal partnerOthersPrincipal Partner of Hay Festival, supporting the global festival operations
• British Councilglobal partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal cultural relations organization partnering on international festival programming and UK/Kenya Season collaborations
• BBCmedia partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerMedia partner providing broadcast coverage and editorial support for festival events
• Instituto Cervantesglobal partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpanish cultural institution supporting programming in Spanish-speaking festival regions
• Biblioteca Nacional de Colombiaglobal partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational library of Colombia supporting festival programming in Colombian locations
• Book BunkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-presenter of Nairobi Litfest with Hay Festival Global, managing the festival in Kenya

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Miami Book Fair: One of the largest US literary festivals with author events, school programming, and a street fair; directly comparable in scale, format, and education-programme integration.
• Cheltenham Literature Festival: The UK's oldest literature festival, held annually in Cheltenham with author events, schools programming, and sponsorship tiers; mirrors Hay Festival's literary focus, education strand, and tiered sponsorship model.
• Brooklyn Book Festival: New York's largest free literary festival featuring author readings, panels, and a children's day; comparable literary programming, education focus, and event-driven community model.
• Melbourne Writers Festival: Annual literary festival in Melbourne featuring authors, thinkers, and ideas programming; similar in-person panel format, schools programming, and ticketed event model.
• Jaipur Literature Festival: India's flagship literary festival, often cited as the world's largest free ticketed festival; comparable international author lineup, free-to-ticketed event mix, and global sponsor stack including tech and financial partners.
• Edinburgh International Book Festival: Edinburgh's annual literary festival featuring author talks, panel debates, and educational programming; runs a comparable ticketed, in-person literary festival model in a UK heritage city, directly competing for authors, audiences, and sponsors.
• Adelaide Writers' Week: Australia's longest-running literary festival, held within Adelaide Festival, featuring author talks and panel discussions; comparable ticketed literary programming with a heritage brand identity.
• Sydney Writers' Festival: Australia's premier literary event with author panels, debates, and live programming; operates on a comparable ticketed festival model with educational outreach and tiered sponsorship.

Broad incumbents

• TED: Global ideas and ideas-conference platform with flagship conferences, a video distribution platform, and sponsor partnerships; overlaps with Hay Festival in the "ideas, literature, science, and culture" programming remit and digital archive model, though not literary-specific.
• National Book Festival (Library of Congress): Annual flagship US literary festival hosted by the Library of Congress featuring author pavilions, panels, and education programming; comparable scale, free-to-ticketed mix, and education focus, with institutional rather than independent governance.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hayfestival
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/HayFestival
• Facebookfacebook.com/hayfestival
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hay-castle-trust-limited
• Instagraminstagram.com/hayfestival

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hay Festival