#HELPHAYFESTIVAL

We are sorry to ask in this difficult time but we need your help.
 
Hay Festival in Wales is cancelled this spring due to the coronavirus / covid-19 pandemic. We must put the safety of our community here in Hay and our wider community of writers, readers and festivalgoers first.
 
The crisis is devastating for our not-for-profit organisation as it comes at our moment of maximum financial exposure: we are already committed to large infrastructure costs but cannot raise box office income.
 
Every spring for over thirty years, Hay Festival has brought thousands of book lovers and writers together. Our resilience has always been built on you, our audience. 70% of our income comes from ticket and book sales.
 
We need to raise emergency funds that can support us as we plot a sustainable route forward and secure longer-term funding for our Winter Weekend 2020 and Hay Festival 2021, while continuing to find new ways to connect writers and readers and inspire change through books. This £150,000 emergency fund will contribute towards a larger fundraising target that we are seeking to secure through multiple sources.
 
Each year, Hay Festival generates around £25m for the local economy, supports more than 400 jobs in one of the lowest income parts of the UK. Our outreach work reaches tens of thousands of young people across Wales and England, inspiring a love of books to last a lifetime. We cannot do this without you.
 
Whatever you can spare, will make a big difference. And if you can’t afford to donate directly, sharing this plea further will assist us greatly.
 
Donors in this hour of need will be recognised as official “Haymakers” and credited on a commemorative wall displayed at every Festival edition to follow.
 
Please donate and spread the word.
 
- Hay Festival team
 
P.S. if you wish to support us in other ways, please visit here  where we outline some of the other options for donating.