I love Hay Festival, volunteering to steward or attending you’re certain to find a mix of mind expanding talks on everything from arts, literature, religion and philosophy, comedy, politics, education, the environment, food, the list goes on…
*Image from The Telegraph
The festival goes on between the 23rd may – 2nd june, and there are plenty of events, expensive, cheap and free.
There is also an excellent fringe festival filled with books, food and clothes stalls, music and entertainment.
I thought I’d tell you about the food, plants, nature, environment and health events.
John Whaite, Tom & Henry Herbert
BAKE ON
Event 23 • Friday 24 May 2013, 7pm • Venue: Digital Stage
The 2012 Great British Bake Off champion is joined by The Fabulous Baker Brothers to celebrate the national obsession, and to design a 26th birthday cake for the festival. Chaired by Sarah Crompton.
Giles Coren talks to Paul Blezard
HOW TO EAT OUT: LESSONS FROM A LIFE LIVED MOSTLY IN RESTAURANTS
Event 112 • Sunday 26 May 2013, 7pm • Venue: Barclays Pavilion
Bad waiters, bum tables, little rip-offs, big cons, old fish, cheap meat, yesterday’s soup and tomorrow’s gastroenteritis… The splenetic humorist tells us how to avoid the lot, and even come out of it with free champagne and a dish named after you by way of apology.
Lucy Boyd talks to Monty Don
THE ROSE GRAY TABLETALK; KITCHEN MEMORIES
Event 147 • Monday 27 May 2013, 1pm • Venue: Google’s Big Tent
This year’s foodie conversation given in the name of the River Café founder features her daughter, the chef and head gardener at the Michelin-starred Petersham Nurseries Café. Her cooking and gardening experience has guided Lucy throughout her 8-year partnership with award-winning chef Skye Gyngell and nurtured a fascination for Italian vegetables and salads, herbs and edible flowers.
Rowan Williams, Neil MacGregor and friends
THE MICHAEL RAMSEY PRIZE LUNCH
Event 194 • Tuesday 28 May 2013, 1pm • Venue: Richard Booth’s Cookshop
Please join us for a simple and delicious, locally-sourced light lunch and the presentation of the 2013 Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing, hosted by the former Archbishop of Canterbury and the Director of the British Museum.
Includes two courses and a glass of wine.
Mark Price talks to Kamal Ahmed
SUPER MARKETS
Event 242 • Wednesday 29 May 2013, 4pm • Venue: Starlight Stage
Come and quiz the Waitrose MD on food and farming, ethical and essential consumption, competition, partnership and price. Chaired by the business editor of The Telegraph.
Mark Hix talks to Dylan Jones
ON BAKING
Event 383 • Saturday 1 June 2013, 4pm • Venue: Digital Stage
The chef patron of Hix Oyster and Chop House and Hix Oyster and Fish House in Dorset, conjures anything that can be cooked in the dry heat of an oven, from a honey-baked ham to a sophisticated saffron custard tart.
Jay Rayner
A GREEDY MAN IN A HUNGRY WORLD
Event 393 • Saturday 1 June 2013, 7pm • Venue: Sky Arts Studio
The doctrine of local food is dead. Farmers’ markets are merely a lifestyle choice for the affluent middle classes. And ‘organic’ has become little more than a marketing label that is way past its sell-by date. The celebrated food writer ‘brings it on’.
Molly Scott Cato and Polly Higgins
CREATING A RESILIENT WORLD
Event 2 • Thursday 23 May 2013, 11.30am • Venue: Landmarc 100 Stage
Is it possible to manage resources fairly and equitably? A strong local economy is important to sustainability, but how large is a local economy and how self-reliant can it be? What part does the law play in ensuring a resilient environment for all and preventing exploitation by the few? The Telegraph’s Geoffrey Lean chairs.
Rob Yorke, Simon Fairlie, Milly Wastie and Conor Colgan
FARMS FIT FOR THE FUTURE
Event 3 • Thursday 23 May 2013, 1pm • Venue: Landmarc 100 Stage
Horsemeat, Schmallenberg disease, fuel costs, drought, floods… From preventing food riots to maintaining the environment, how does our primary industry square up to the challenges ahead? Rural commentator Rob Yorke discusses with Editor of The Land Simon Fairlie, Young Farmers Chair Milly Wastie and the NFU’s Conor Colgan.
Sandy Black
THE SUSTAINABLE FASHION HANDBOOK
Event 5 • Thursday 23 May 2013, 2.30pm • Venue: Landmarc 100 Stage
Can the fashion industry ever be truly sustainable? With a wasteful, fast-moving fashion cycle and the social impact on the 40 million people employed worldwide in manufacturing and agriculture, it’s going to be an interesting journey. One of the world’s pioneering authorities in this field in conversation with Hay-on-Earth Director Andy Fryers.
John Browne
SEVEN ELEMENTS
Event 64 • Saturday 25 May 2013, 7pm • Venue: Digital Stage
The former BP chief examines the current and future use of the Earth’s natural resources in his fascinating survey,Seven Elements That Have Changed The World: Iron, Carbon, Gold, Silver, Uranium, Titanium, Silicon. Chaired by The Telegraph’s business editor Kamal Ahmed.
Roger Thurow
FEEDING THE WORLD
Event 93 • Sunday 26 May 2013, 1pm • Venue: Landmarc 100 Stage
How will we feed a growing global population in the face of a wide range of adverse factors, including climate change? What contributions can the social and natural sciences make in finding solutions, and what is the role for governments and the private sector? What does it all mean for the individual farmer? The author The Hunger Season discusses withThe Telegraph’s Environment Editor, Geoffrey Lean.
Satish Kumar, Roger Thurow, Elisha London and Sally Copley
CAN WE REALLY BE THE GENERATION TO END WORLD HUNGER?
Event 123 • Sunday 26 May 2013, 8.30pm • Venue: Landmarc 100 Stage
One in eight people in the world still go to bed hungry despite our planet providing enough food for everyone. With the UK hosting the G8 Summit in June, what will they deliver to tackle this scandal? Resurgence & Ecologist editor, Satish Kumar; author and journalist Roger Thurow; the Global Poverty Project Director Elisha London; and Oxfam’s Head of UK Campaigns (and chair of IF’s Organising Committee) Sally Copley suggest ways forward.
Mark Lynas, Philip Ball and guests
SACRED COWS MAKE THE BEST BEEFBURGERS
Event 160 • Monday 27 May 2013, 4pm • Venue: Landmarc 100 Stage
Challenging firmly-held beliefs is not to be undertaken lightly. However, it is crucial in all walks of life if societies are to develop and be capable of meeting new challenges. Author and campaigner Mark Lynas and renowned science writer Philip Ball discuss. Chaired by Andy Fryers.
Russ Malkin, Ed Gillespie and Kate Rawles
LOW IMPACT TRAVEL
Event 172 • Monday 27 May 2013, 7pm • Venue: Landmarc 100 Stage
What does it mean for the future of travel if exploring our ‘Lonely Planet’ risks destroying our ‘Only Planet’? Malkin produced and directed three motorcycle adventure TV documentaries, Gillespie travelled around the world without flying, and Rawles (The Carbon Cycle) cycled from Texas to Alaska. Chaired by Steve Colling.
Alannah Weston, Steve Trent and Lily Cole
SHARKS AND BEAUTY
Event 290 • Thursday 30 May 2013, 4pm • Venue: Landmarc 100 Stage
There is a largely unknown and unseen use of sharks in the beauty trade. Addressing this issue is vital to stopping the rapid decline in shark populations and also why this is crucial in a broader context for the health of our oceans. Weston, Creative Director of Selfridges, the Environmental Justice Foundation’s Trent and model and campaigner Cole discuss.
John Sulston
THE ROYAL SOCIETY LECTURE; THE PEOPLE AND THE PLANET
Event 292 • Thursday 30 May 2013, 5.30pm • Venue: Barclays Pavilion
The Nobel Laureate discusses the links between global population, consumption and the environment, and the implications for sustainable development. How can we all live and flourish on a finite Earth?
Tony Juniper and Jim Robbins
DOES MONEY REALLY GROW ON TREES?
Event 366 • Saturday 1 June 2013, 11.30am • Venue: Landmarc 100 Stage
Nature’s uses and abuses, physical, social and psychological, and one man’s quest to help save the world’s oldest and greatest tree specimens. One of Britiain’s best-known environmental campaigners joins New York Times journalist and author Jim Robbins.
Julia Hailes, Ben Law, Janet Cotterell
GREENING BUILDINGS
Event 372 • Saturday 1 June 2013, 1pm • Venue: Landmarc 100 Stage
Grand Designs icon Ben Law discusses a more sustainable approach to buildings with Passivhaus expert Janet Cotterell and Green Consumer guru, Julia Hailes. Chaired by Hay-on-Earth Director Andy Fryers.
George Monbiot
FERAL: REWILDING THE LAND, THE SEA AND HUMAN LIFE
Event 382 • Saturday 1 June 2013, 4pm • Venue: Sky Arts Studio
The campaigning journalist argues for the mass restoration of damaged ecosystems, the reintroduction of wolves, lynx, beavers, moose and boar to Britain, and a life richer in adventure and surprise. Chaired by Horatio Clare.
Dianne Edwards talks to Francine Stock
FROM ANCIENT HAY TO GARDENS TODAY
Event 241 • Wednesday 29 May 2013, 4pm • Venue: Sky Arts Studio
Plants changed the face of the planet – and fossils from Hay and around the world have revealed how this happened. Edwards tells the story of these ancient plants, which led to the gardens, forests and landscapes we know today.
Kate Humble talks to Carolyn Hitt
HUMBLE BY NATURE
Event 247 • Wednesday 29 May 2013, 5.30pm • Venue: Barclays Pavilion
The broadcaster and farmer tells the story of her relocation to a Welsh farm, chasing the good life dream and her struggle to establish a sustainable business and a school for rural skills and animal husbandry.
Andrew Balmford
NATURE’S GLASS: HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL?
Event 270 • Thursday 30 May 2013, 11.30am • Venue: Google’s Big Tent
Wild populations, their habitats, and the benefits they provide for people, are in decline. But is the situation hopeless? The Professor of Conservation Science tells stories of success from around the world to argue the case of optimism.
Sadaf Farooqi
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY SERIES 5; WHAT MAKES US FAT?
Event 117 • Sunday 26 May 2013, 7pm • Venue: Starlight Stage
In an age of obesity where sugary, fatty food is available 24/7, will it ever be possible to control our appetites? The Professor of Metabolism and Medicine describes how the brain and not the stomach controls what and how much we eat; and how scientists are working to conquer the many triggers for overeating. Chaired by Rosie Boycott.
Deborah Christie talks to Rosie Boycott
DIABETES: CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES
Event 128 • Monday 27 May 2013, 9am • Venue: Digital Stage
The Consultant Clinical Psychologist addresses the issues arising from the fact that children and young people are increasingly among those being diagnosed with diabetes but only 1 in 6 of them succeed in controlling it, despite support from parents and professionals.
Alun Withey
MEDICINE IN MEDIEVAL WALES
Event 307 • Friday 31 May 2013, 9am • Venue: Landmarc 100 Stage
What was it like to be ill in medieval Wales? What remedies did people use and to whom did they turn for treatment? Chaired by Jasper Rees.
Jasper Rees is author of Bred Of Heaven.
John Bird in conversation with Marcel Berlins
THE NECESSITY OF POVERTY
Event 411 • Sunday 2 June 2013, 10am • Venue: Llwyfan Cymru – Wales Stage
The founder of The Big Issue mounts a blistering attack on orthodox thinking around the gap between rich and poor, sparing neither himself nor others in identifying what needs to be done to end poverty.
The Crazy Vegan Lady 