SET in a magical riverside location on the edge of the Black Mountains in Hay-on-Wye, HowTheLightGetsIn is host to thought-provoking debates and talks, award-winning art and cinema exhibitions, and lunchtime yoga retreats. In the evening, the site transforms into a party like no other, with the hottest bands and cabaret acts, edgiest comedians, and unforgettable DJ sets. Here are 10 highlights.

1. Catch a spellbinding headline set from Anna Calvi

Double Mercury Prize and Brit Award nominee Anna Calvi burst onto the music scene in 2011 with her award-winning debut album. Calvi’s spectacular live performances, with her operatic voice and virtuoso guitar playing, have left audiences spellbound: hardly surprising that she has since collaborated with everyone from Noah and the Whale to Morrissey, along with art-rock legend Brian Eno who described Calvi as “the best thing since Patti Smith.”

2. Discuss ideas over dinner with bestselling philosopher Julian Baggini

At HowTheLightGetsIn’s unique Open Platform dinners, festivalgoers dine with headline speakers – such as best-selling philosopher Julian Baggini, who will join guests for an intellectual feast where the discussion will explore how we can understand the self and our relationship to others. Discuss ideas over a four-course dinner with the world’s leading thinkers in an intimate candlelit setting, as the wine flows with the conversation and the sun sets over the Black Mountains in the distance.

3. Debate The Will of The People with Jon Lansman, Anna Soubry and Michael Howard

Founder of Momentum and staunch defender of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership Jon Lansman makes a rare panel appearance at HowTheLightGetsIn, going head-to-head with outspoken People’s Vote campaigner and member of the newly-formed Independent Group Anna Soubry, and former leader of the Conservative Party Michael Howard. Join them for what promises to be a fascinating and heated debate, as they put forward three very different views on Corbyn, Trump and the rising tide of populism.

4. Catch British Sea Power performing live

Indie icons British Sea Power boast admirers from Lou Reed to David Bowie. British Sea Power have played everywhere from on top of the Great Wall of China to underground CERN atomic research labs, and their penchant for spectacular live locations takes them to the Wye Valley this May.

5. Explore The Lure of Lucifer with Terry Eagleton

Studies show that the average child will have seen 8,000 fictional murders by adulthood. But why are we so obsessed with stories of evil and violence on our screens? And should we look to end this morbid obsession, or accept it as a feature of humanity? One of Britain’s most influential cultural critics Terry Eagleton, author of Evil in Modern Thought Susan Neiman, and philosopher Stephen de Wijze get to the bottom of evil’s strange allure.

6. Pride, Prejudice and Philosophy: world-leading philosophers make the case for decolonising our thinking

Recent student campaigns to decolonise the curriculum have made headline news, igniting heated debate about Western biases in our teaching and learning. Do ‘great ideas’ exist independent of time, place and tradition? Is philosophy truly about the search for universal truths, or do we need to wake up to the reality of Western prejudice? Join Professor of Comparative Philosophy Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, Oxford logician Timothy Williamson and political theorist Nivi Manchanda as they interrogate the limits of Western philosophy.

7. Nine-to-Five, or Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll?: Ab Fab star Helen Lederer questions What It’s All For

We admire the highly ambitious, and define ourselves by our careers and achievements. Why, then, do so many of us spend out lives waiting for weekends and holidays? Ab Fab star Helen Lederer, Director of the Einstein Forum and author of Why Grow Up? Susan Neiman, and CEO of The Business Romantic Society Tim Leberecht join forces to take on the biggest question of all, asking: should our work define our lives? Or is play where living really happens?

8. Dance into the night at the Riverside Disco

Secret location adventurers Alfresco Disco have taken over spaces from Shambala to underground railroads in Bristol, and return to HowTheLightGetsIn as resident curators of the Riverside Disco for an extraordinary beat-driven bash. Wherever Alfresco go, late night debauchery will follow in classic Bristolian style. According to Vice, “since 2005 they have been throwing stranger, wilder and braver secret parties… they have grown bigger and bolder with age.”

9. Open the doors of perception, as cognitive psychologist Donald Hoffman makes The Case Against Reality

Is reality how it appears? Or is nothing as it seems? Professor of Cognitive Science and author of the hotly-anticipated The Case Against Reality Donald Hoffman argues that our perceptions, far from being a window on reality, are interfaces constructed by natural selection, and that the world is nothing like what we see before our eyes. Drawing on evolutionary biology, game theory, computer science and philosophy, his groundbreaking research challenges our most basic assumptions about the way we see the world around us.

10. Fiery and funny stand-up from award-winning comedian Ahir Shah

Celebrated British comedian and festival favourite Ahir Shah returns to HowTheLightGetsIn with two nominations for Best Show at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards under his belt. His fiery and funny stand up is political comedy at its finest, and has been described as “charismatic and of rewardingly cerebral approach” (The Guardian), and “intricately crafted, profoundly moving, howlingly funny” (The Daily Telegraph).

Taking place from May 24-27, HowTheLightGetsIn will feature more than 300 events. Tickets details are available at howthelightgetsin.org/hay.