Hay Festival 2022 closed on Sunday evening after a triumphant return with more than 500 in-person events over 11 days, bringing readers and writers together in a programme to inspire, examine and entertain.

This year’s event was the first in-person Hay Festival in Hay-on-Wye since 2019 and launched the best new fiction and non-fiction, while offering insights and debate around some of the biggest issues of our times alongside a vibrant programme of music, comedy and performance for all ages.

Award-winning writers, policy makers, pioneers and innovators took part from around the world, including in-person appearances from Hillary Rodham Clinton, Stephen Fry, Nicola Sturgeon, Minnie Driver, Jimmy Page, Cressida Cowell, David Baddiel, David Harewood, Gillian Clarke, Ian Rankin, Jacqueline Wilson and many more. An all-star Letters Live cast was also led by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Events took place at the main Dairy Meadows site, in St Mary’s Church in Hay and in a new Festival theatre in the grounds of the recently restored Hay Castle.

Partnerships with Adult Learning Wales, Strong Young Minds, The National Literacy Trust, Head4Arts and The Family Place made this one of the most accessible Festival editions yet with targeted projects to attract harder-to-reach communities. The free Programme for Schools on Thursday 25 May and Friday 26 May attracted 20,717 attendances with thousands more live-streaming online.

A selection of events were livestreamed to Online Festival pass holders, while free Festival highlights were shared by media partners including the BBC, Sky Arts and TikTok.