RAPPER Stormzy has said he can't wait to appear at this year's Hay Festival, with the line-up for the 11-day summer event now revealed.

The world-renowned literary festival has unveiled the full programme for its 36th spring edition in Hay-on-Wye, with more than 500 in-person events from May 25 until June 4.

Stormzy has reached number one on the UK Singles Chart four times, including for his own singles Vossi Bop and Own It, featuring Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy. 

Stormzy will join Dua Lipa and Helena Bonham Carter with bestselling writers Margaret Atwood, Fflur Dafydd and Douglas Stuart, family favourites Julia Donaldson, Connor Allen and Jacqueline Wilson, creatives Tracey Emin and Will Gompertz, and historians and journalists Marina Hyde, Jeremy Bowen, and David Olusoga in the line-up.

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London-born Stormzy, 29, said: “It all started with books for me.

"As a kid in school, I fell in love with literature and it sparked a life-long journey with words and writing, which led into my career as a songwriter and a musician.

"I’m really excited to pass on this passion at Hay Festival, celebrate our incredible #Merky Books writers, and inspire the next generation of storytellers. Can’t wait to see you guys there."

Tickets are on sale now to Friends of Hay Festival at hayfestival.org/wales or on 01497 822 629. Public booking opens at midday on March 17.

Hay Festival said it is the world’s leading festival of ideas, bringing readers and writers together in sustainable events to inspire, examine and entertain on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

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This year’s programme launches the best new fiction and non-fiction while offering insights and debate around significant global issues. Award-winning writers, policymakers, pioneers and innovators take part from around the world, offering big thinking and bold ideas.

Events offer something for all, beginning with the free Programme for Schools followed by HAYDAYS and #HAYYA events for families, encouraging young readers to get creative throughout the half-term.

Late nights at the festival are given over to great music, comedy and entertainment, while a host of free pop-up activities and performances around the site keeps the audience entertained between events.

Providing exciting new platforms to discover fresh ideas, Hay Festival invites audiences to imagine the world as it is and as it might be. It is a catalyst for change and action, open and accessible to all.

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Hay Festival CEO Julie Finch said: “This Hay Festival edition is a beacon, an international symbol of hope for the collective, creative imagination and a better future.

"Our latest programme offers ‘11 days of different’ in the Brecon Beacons National Park, creating a space where great minds won’t always think alike, and where imaginations are free to roam.

"During the day our conversations will grapple and engage with the world around us, seeking solutions to some of the biggest challenges of our times while inspiring the next generation of world-changers.

"And in the evening we’ll laugh, dance and exchange stories in a place like nowhere else. Join us.”

Hay Festival 2023 is supported by lead sponsors Baillie Gifford and Visit Wales.

Michelle McLeod, sponsorship manager at Baillie Gifford, said: “Hay Festival never fails to bring together the brightest minds to discuss some of the biggest challenges of our times, along with the very best writers in fiction, non-fiction and poetry."

Events will take place across eight stages in the free-to-enter Festival village at Dairy Meadows – which also offers a range of spaces for audiences to explore and enjoy, including the Festival Bookshop, Wild Garden, Make and Take Tent, a host of exhibitors and market stalls, cafés and restaurants – as well as in and around Hay-on-Wye, including performances all week at St Mary’s Church.