Hay Festival has announced a new event this afternoon, just a day before the festival kicks off, involving Irish singer-songwriter and political activist Bob Geldof.

In an exclusive session on Saturday 31 May at 4pm on the Discovery Stage, Geldof will be reflecting on the legacy of Live Aid and Live8, four decades after it captured the world’s attention.

He will be joined by Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations from 2021 to 2022, and Ayisha Osori, Human Rights Lawyer and Director of the Open Society Foundations Ideas Workshop. And the event will be chaired by the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet.

The panel will explore the evolution of international aid, what has worked to date, and will consider the future of global solidarity in this age of shifting geopolitical power, before reflecting on where we can go from here?

Hay Festival gets underway tomorrow (Thursday, May 22) and ends on Sunday, June 1.