Discover Hay-on-Wye
The book town on the Wye: second-hand shops on Lion Street, a restored castle above the Clock Tower, and Hay Bluff at the top of the Offa's Dyke Path
A market town that turned itself into a bookshop
Hay is a small Powys market town on the Wye with a Hereford postcode and a Welsh council. It is best known for second-hand books: Richard Booth, who bought the castle in the 1960s, filled the town with bookshops and in 1977 declared himself King of Hay. Addyman Books started in 1987 in a ten-foot room at the Blue Boar, and the Hay Cinema Bookshop has filled the old picture house on Castle Street since 1965.
The castle sits on the rise behind the Clock Tower, restored by the Hay Castle Trust with National Lottery Heritage Fund money and open to the public since May 2022. The Thursday market fills the centre every week of the year, the river is a canoe trip into England, and the Offa's Dyke Path climbs away south to Hay Bluff.
What's On
Upcoming events and things happening in Hay-on-Wye
Hay Thursday Market
RecurringEvery Thursday, 9am to 2.30pm, from Memorial Square to the Clock Tower; over 40 traders.
Hay Festival Winter Weekend 2026
RecurringFour days of talks, music and comedy at Hay Castle, 26 to 29 November 2026.
Hay Festival 2027
RecurringThe 40th Hay Festival, 27 May to 6 June 2027, on Dairy Meadows off the Brecon Road.
HowTheLightGetsIn Hay 2027
RecurringPhilosophy and music by the Wye, 28 to 31 May 2027, just off Newport Street.
Hay-on-Wye Right Now
Hay's weather and the Black Mountains' weather are two different things. If you are heading up towards Hay Bluff, look at a mountain forecast, not the town one, and take a layer even in summer.
Where To Eat
From fine dining to casual favourites
The Three Tuns
A listed pub since 1830 on the corner of Broad Street, now cooking Italian-leaning plates.
FIR by Matt Sampson
A five-table surprise tasting menu in the former Chapters chapel on Lion Street, open since June 2026.