Hay Festival goes online

Just like all the conferences, workshops, meetings, and films festivals are making their presence felt through the algorithms of the internet, the same would go for the esteemed Hay Festival – one of the greatest literary festivals showcasing a wide and interesting array of intellectuals, writers, policymakers, activists, and artists in heartwarming discussions punctuated by comedy, personal insights, and audience Q/A.

The world is going through a rapid influx of changes rendering us to the mercy of technology, which remains our portal to the outside world. Everything else remains engulfed in uncertainty. Hence, that is why we need art. Art acts an antidote and balm to our ongoing situation. With lockdowns set both in and across borders, the Hay Festival, for the first time, will take place online, all from the confines of the rooms of the speakers themselves. What was initially supposed to take place in Powys in Wales as it always has, has been cancelled due to the pandemic leading to another seismic shift of many eventful happenings this year.

Hay Festival Digital will be a two-week-long online festival offering interactive sessions broadcasted straight from the houses of the stars themselves as well as a chance to exchange pleasantries and question-answers with the viewers themselves. Always a star-studded cast, this year includes the likes of Margaret Atwood, Stephen Fry, Elif Shafak, Abhijeet Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Helen Bonham Carter amongst many others. The list is a bastion of hope, panache, and charisma.

As well as fiction and literary greats, topics this year will include discussions about the Covid-19 pandemic, world affairs, art, economics, and global health. What is still gratifying and mind-boggling is that the festival will be conducting 80 events, all of which will keep us dutifully entertained to the say the very least.

The organizers have also launched a beguiling Hay Festival Podcast, which gives free access to conversations with a wide range of writers and thinkers such as Hilary Mantel, Naomi Klein, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Most of the conversations last for less than 30 minutes and are short, crisp, and engaging.  

Hay Festival Digital has been trending with #IMAGINETHEWORLD and the main programme will be starting from 22nd till 31st May. The festival is free and anyone can have access to it. All one needs to do is to go to the Hay Festival website, hayfestival.org and from thereon, click on the view programme option. A wide array of different event options will be available to choose from. All that one needs to do is click on the event and save their spot cementing their registration and attendance spot for the event. There is no limit to the number of events you can register for. So, do take a close look at your emails, which will provide the links to watch the event as well as a 10-minute reminder before the event starts.

Hay Festival is a beacon of hope allowing an untrammelled and unique flow of ideas and depth of conversations that we all need to hear and engage with. A vicarious attempt in engaging with the outside world, the festival acts as an oasis of hope for a better future. Let us all replace isolation with connectivity and distancing with the much-needed closure we deserve. Let ideas flow virally and hope we get out of a better position than we are already in right now.