Youngsters at an event in the Hay Festival Cartagena engagement. Image: Hay Festival, Joaquin Sarmiento
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘Catalysts for Change’
As Publishing Perspectives’ international readership knows, Wales’ public-facing Hay Festival holds offshore “forum” events each year, with standing Spanish-language programs in Spain, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia.
Today (September 21), the company has announced two new venues for such international engagements:
- Hay Forum Sevilla is to run October 5 to 7
- Hay Forum Ciudad de Panama is set for January 23 and 24
Last year, as you might recall, the Hay collaborated with the Lviv Book Forum in Ukraine to create a digital program alongside the Lviv group’s in-person event.
It’s not entirely clear what the distinctions are between something classified as a Hay Festival and a Hay Forum. But the “forum” designation in the company’s lexicon appears to signal most frequently a shorter-duration engagement than a festival, and what the company calls “focused days of programming around specific themes.”
Details of programming for the Panamanian debut are to be released in November, and the programming for the Sevilla event is out, with highlights including “architects Kunlé Adeyemi and Martha Thorne; academic Michael Ignatieff; historian Fernando Iwasaki; journalist Karina Sainz Borgo; Mayor of Seville José Luis Sanz; and more on the future of cities.”
That occasion in Sevilla—which follows the recent, larger annual Spain event this month at Segovia—is being programmed to offer 10 events in “topics such as literature, architecture, the environment, and more.”
Once these programs are in place, the Hay staff reports, its annual festival output will reach 65 days of activity across all its events and venues on three continents.
Julie Finch
In a comment on the news of the two additions, the Hay’s CEO, Julie Finch, is quoted, saying, “Hay Festival is a beacon, an international symbol of hope for the collective, creative imagination.
“Our new ‘forum’ editions are designed to be catalysts for change through literature, arts, and ideas; a space to come together to share perspectives and to express our creativity.
“In a time of division and polarity, this has never felt more important. We look forward to welcoming audiences in Seville and Panama into the Hay Festival family.”
Here are some more Hay Festival event dates ahead:
- Lviv Book Forum, Ukraine, October 5 to 8
- Hay Festival Arequipa, Peru, November 9 to 12
- Hay Festival Winter Weekend, Wales, November 23 to 26 (albeit a month before winter)
- Hay Festival Jericó, Colombia (January 19 to 21)
- Hay Forum Panama City, Panama, January 23 and 24
- Hay Festival Medellín, Colombia, January 23 to 15
- Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, January 25 to 28
- Hay Festival, Wales, May 23 to June 2
- Hay Festival Querétaro, Mexico, September 2024
- Hay Forum Dallas, USA, September 2024
- Hay Festival Segovia, Spain, September 2024
More from Publishing Perspectives on the Hay Festival is here, more on the Latin American publishing industries is here, more on Spain’s market is here, and more on the world publishing industry’s book fairs, festivals, and trade shows is here.