page_title: Hay-on-Wye
section_title: HowTheLightGetsIn Festival
hierarchical_section_title: Hay-on-Wye / Other activities / HowTheLightGetsIn Festival
caption_attribution_description: English: HowTheLightGetsIn Festival Hay-on-Wye 2018 site showing the Ferris wheel, helter-skelter, carousel, and more.
context_page_description: Hay-on-Wye, often abbreviated to just "Hay" is a small market town and community in the historic county of Brecknockshire in Wales, currently administered as part of the unitary authority of Powys. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as "the town of books", and is both the National Book Town of Wales and the site of the annual Hay Festival.
  The settlement's name is first referred to between 1135 and 1147 as Haya; in 1299 the name of La Haye is used. By the 16th century it was simply called Hay, and the use of the river as a suffix is a later addition. In 1215, a Welsh name, Gelli was recorded, and Gelli gandrell in 1614; the two names may have been used concurrently in 1625. The English language name, Hay, is derived from Old English hæg, possibly meaning a "fenced area" and a noun used in late Saxon and Norman times for an enclosure in a forest. The Welsh word celli has a range of meanings including wooded areas of various extents.
  The population of the town in 1841 was 1,455. This had grown to 1,680 by 1901. The Town's size has not changed much since, with 2018 estimates at 1900.
context_section_description: Hay also hosts the world’s largest philosophy and music festival, HowTheLightGetsIn, which occurs annually in Hay-on-Wye in May. HowTheLightGetsIn attracts a footfall of over 30,000 each year. It aims "to get philosophy out of the academy and into people's lives" by bringing together philosophers, writers, academics, comedians and musicians for a festival of debate, talks, music, workshops, and late night parties.
  Speakers at the festival have included Noam Chomsky, Brian Eno, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Philip Pullman, Diane Abbott, Steven Pinker and Laurie Penny, among others. Music headliners have included Clean Bandit, Hot Chip, and Donovan. Comedians have included James Acaster, Sarah Pascoe, and Phil Wang.
caption: HowTheLightGetsIn Festival, Hay-on-Wye, 2018
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