HowTheLightGetsIn Festival

Nestled beneath the Black Mountains and alongside the River Wye, HowTheLightGetsIn Hay 2024 will be a truly magical experience, with 300 events across 12 stages, including more than 180 music and performance events and over 100 debates and talks, taking place from 24th-27th May 2023.

HowTheLightGetsIn brings its own special form of magic to everyone. There is no other place on the planet where you can spend your days meeting the world’s leading thinkers and discovering the most cutting-edge ideas, before partying and dancing late into the night.

Join a debate about the nature of the universe with the world’s top scientists, laugh until your sides hurt with the UK’s best comedians, dance at our famous disco tent to the finest beats or dine with our speakers at Inner Circle events.

There’s something special in the air. It’s alive with ideas in every field of endeavour. The programme has many names you will recognise but HowTheLightGetsIn is not about status or celebrity, but about ideas and wonder and creating a space where everyone’s imagination can flourish.

Find the bands you’ve never heard of, discover ground-breaking ideas that have yet to make their mark, contribute yourself and your thoughts, and magic will come your way.