DARK SECRETS: Hay festival | Rare Historical Photos

Sales of Meta whistleblower’s memoir soar after Hay festival ‘silencing’

Sarah Wynn-Williams remained silent during her hour-long appearance, but sales of Careless People have since increased by more than 300%

The Guardian - UK · Jun 10

Facebook whistleblower forced to sit in silence onstage during Hay Festival talk after Meta injunction

Sarah Wynn-Williams wrote the bestselling memoir ‘Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism’, detailing her seven years working for the tech giant

The Independent UK · Jun 1

Meta legal action forces Facebook whistleblower to sit in silence at Hay festival

Sarah Wynn-Williams did not speak during event after lawyers warned of possible sanctions from tech firm

The Guardian - UK · May 31

Ian McEwan says pessimism ‘a bigger problem than climate change’

Speaking at Hay festival as UK breaks May heat record, author says optimism is a ‘moral duty’

The Guardian - UK · May 25

Rape survivor Gisele Pelicot describes finding love again after her ordeal

Speaking at the Hay Festival on Saturday, Ms Pelicot she never thought she could trust a man again before meeting her partner, Jean-Loup Agopian.

Evening Standard · May 23

Mike Tindall jokes he knew Prince Harry ‘when he was fun’ in swipe at royal

The former England rugby player also poked fun at Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor during a live event at Hay Festival

The Independent UK · May 22

Hay Festival announces inspiring line-up for 2026 event

IN FULL

The Independent UK · Mar 9

Emma Thompson, Gisèle Pelicot and Dawn French among Hay Festival 2026 headliners

Filmmaker Emerald Fennell and ‘Hamnet’ author Maggie O’Farrell are also on the line-up

The Independent UK · Mar 9

Gisèle Pelicot and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe among Hay Festival 2026 speakers

The line-up for this year’s festival includes Emma Thompson, Malala Yousafzai, Ian McEwan and other prominent authors and figures

The Guardian - UK · Mar 9

Stephen Fry launches campaign to boost reading for pleasure

The Hay festival president is asking readers for book recommendations that will ‘entice the most reluctant reader’ to help combat the decline in leisure reading

The Guardian - UK · Dec 17, 2025