From Everest climbers to Parkrun founder
Hay Festival Sports Day is back on Wednesday 28 May, with talks, workshops and events covering a range of topics, building on last year’s inaugural success.
Worlds collide as leading thinkers join sports stars for a showcase of creative talent and interactive free activities all around the Festival site, including:
- Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson – Paralympic athlete
- Ebony Rainford-Brent – Cricketer
- Raymond Chester – American footballer
- Alix Popham – Rugby veteran
- Sam Peters – Sportswriter
- Paul Sinton-Hewitt – Founder of Parkrun
- Dan Biggar – Welsh Rugby player
- Jo Bradshaw, Tori James and Rebecca Stephens – Everest summiteers
- Jonnie Peacock – Paralympic athlete and author
- Allan Cockram and Louis Myles – Founders of Brentford Penguins
- Stephen Fry and Hay All-Stars Cricket TeamPlus, interactive free activities all around the Festival site are led by Fencing Cymru, Sports Powys and organisations from the Welsh Sports Association.
Full details and tickets can be found at hayfestival.org/hay-on-wye
Ebony Rainford-Brent – Cricketer
Founded last year to mark the Olympics, Hay Festival Sports Day celebrates connections between sports and the arts, widening access to the cultural event with free activities.
Hay Festival Global CEO Julie Finch said: “After the huge success of last year’s Hay Festival Sports Day, we are delighted to broaden the programme further and welcome sporting greats from around the world to inspire audiences of all ages with new ideas and exciting activities. There’s something for everyone at Hay Festival 2025 – see you there!”
Hay Festival is one of the world’s most impactful cultural events with more than 600 conversations, activities and performances in Hay-on-Wye over 11 days, 22 May–1 June.
Launching the best new fiction and non-fiction books, while sharing insights around global issues, the Hay Festival 2025 programme sees more than 600 artists, policymakers, pioneers and innovators take part from around the world.
Events offer something for all, beginning with the free Schools Programme, 22–23 May, and including a vibrant strand for families throughout.
Nights at the Festival are given over to great music, comedy and entertainment, while a host of free pop-up activities and performances will amaze audiences between sessions.
Events take place across eight stages in the free-to-enter Festival site, which offers a range of spaces for audiences to explore and enjoy, including the Bookshop, Wild Garden, Make & Take Tent, a host of exhibitors and market stalls, cafés and restaurants, and the Family Garden where young readers can kick-start their creative journeys – plus immersive music performances all week at St Mary’s Church.
Collaborations with Arts Council England, Black British Book Festival, Pen to Print, Living Knowledge Network, Reaching Wider, and Inclusive Books for Children make this one of the most accessible Festival editions yet. And it continues online with a selection of sessions streamed live throughout the 2025 event, continuing the Festival’s commitment to digital accessibility.
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Sessions in Spanish and English can be rediscovered anywhere in the world on Hay Festival Anytime, a subscription service offering the world’s greatest writers on film and audio for £20/€20 per year.
With thanks to the Hay Festival
