Hay Festival 2026 programme cover revealed by new illustrator in residence

The Hay Festival has revealed its stunning new 2026 programme cover artwork.

Presteigne artist Charlotte Hepburn has been announced as the festival’s new illustrator in residence with her design for the programme cover, out today (February 10).

The cover reveal marks 100 days to Hay Festival 2026, which takes place 21–31 May in the Welsh book town of Hay-on-Wye.

The spring festival brings writers and readers together for over 11 days of exciting events.

Offering an emerging artist the opportunity to take part in the festival, the illustration residency facilitates and inspires visual storytelling, supporting artists in reaching a larger audience while emphasising the vital role artists play in storytelling.

Charlotte Hepburn is an artist, printmaker and illustrator, based in Presteigne, mid-Wales.

Having studied illustration with animation at Manchester School of Art, she works with a range of different media, including pen and ink, pencils, gouache paints and digital to produce playful work.

Hay Festival Global CEO Julie Finch said: “Marking 100 days to Hay Festival 2026, we are pleased to announce this year’s Illustrator in Residence and share this year’s programme cover design.

“Based just down the road from us, Charlotte Hepburn is an exciting new talent whose work captures the vibrancy of our events with a nod to the textural nature of live experience. We are excited to showcase her work on this year’s Festival programme, inside and out.”

Charlotte Hepburn said: “I’m so excited to be Hay Festival Illustrator in Residence 2026. I wanted the programme cover to celebrate the escapism of books and the joy of reading, using bold colour and risograph texture to create something playful, welcoming, and full of life. I hope it makes people smile.”

Hay Festival, one of the world’s leading cultural charities, was founded in Hay-on-Wye, Wales in 1987, providing audiences with platforms to come together to share ideas, different perspectives and provoke conversations that can create a better world.

Forty-five earlybird events are out now for Hay Festival 2026, the charity’s flagship edition, which takes place 21–31 May, teasing the full programme to come Monday 9 March.