During half term, a group of Lower Sixth Form boys attended the famous Hay Festival, which is regarded as one of the world’s top literary and arts festivals.
The Hay Festival takes place annually in early summer in the small town of Hay-on-Wye, on the Wales-England border, and while this is only the second time the school has taken a trip there, it is hoped that this will become an annual excursion for Lower Sixth boys.
The boys were free to explore the festival in small groups and take in the events which piqued their interest. Between them they attended twenty-two events during their short stay, including Plagues and the Paradox of Progress, How to be an Astronaut and Other Space Jobs, An English Education and Clearing the Air: The Beginning and End of Air Pollution.
The group trip on the first evening to see the host of the Mash Report and Double Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Nish Kumar’s new show was a group highlight, hilarious and controversial in equal measure!
The boys also had the opportunity to sample the delights of the food hall, visit the many wonderful bookshops and the Compass Studio, where members of the Hay Festival Youth Council interviewed Hay Festival speakers as part of the ‘How I Got Here’ series.
The boys were an absolute pleasure and fantastic ambassadors for the school. As Peter Florence, Director of the Hay Festival, stated, “Hay is a space to think, and to think again, and to put the great issues of the day in a context of global history. Empires fall, technology empowers and enslaves us, faiths are shaken, orthodoxies disrupted and still we come together and talk… Minds change.”
Lower Sixth Former Oscar Hill told us, “Going to the Hay Festival was a fantastic experience – it was eye-opening and exposed me to some great ideas. Definitely something I would love to do again!”
