Peace is Possible

Satish Kumar | 10am-10.30am | Main Stage

Peace activist Satish Kumar opens the festival with an inspiring and deeply moving call for peace with each other, with nature and with ourselves. Satish’s words provide wisdom, hope and joy when we need it most.

Sunday Papers

Broadcasters and environmentalists debate the topical news stories of the day in relation to the planet, climate, nature and our wellbeing | 10.30am-12pm | Main Stage

Moderated by Financial Times’ Features Editor Henry Mance, confirmed participants include renowned environmentalist and campaigner Sir Jonathon Porritt, zoologist and broadcaster Lucy Cooke, environmental justice researcher Joycelyn Longdon and writer, Ben Rawlence.

Being Old and Learning to Love it!

Prue Leith | 12pm-1pm | Main Stage

Journalist Eleanor Mills interviews broadcaster, restaurateur, writer, educator and cook Prue Leith on the trials and taboos of growing older – along with its unexpected joys. Sometimes serious, often funny, and always engaging, Prue speaks with refreshing honesty about life as a modern woman in her eighties. Nothing is off limits: from beauty, staying active and finding fame on The Great British Bake Off, to friendship, family, and the occasional regret. She will tackle the big questions we all have about getting older – about time running out, dealing with grief, and her passionate belief in assisted dying – as well as discussing finding love, the right time to retire, fashion, travel, and gardening. From founding her world-renowned cookery academies to writing food columns, cookbooks and novels and presenting The Great British Bake Off, Prue Leith reflects on living life to the full.

Bitch: What does it mean to be Female?

Lucy Cooke | 1pm-2pm | Main Stage

Women aren’t the only victims of misogyny. For centuries female animals have been marginalised and misunderstood by the scientific patriarchy. The bitches in Bitch overturn outdated binary expectations of bodies, brains, biology and behaviour. In this revealing talk with fellow author and zoologist Jackie Higgins, Lucy Cooke discusses the animals and scientists who are reinventing the female of the species – changing how you think about sex, sexual identity and sexuality in animals.

I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You

Miranda Hart | 2pm-3pm | Main Stage

Acclaimed actor, comedian and writer Miranda Hart explores the lessons she has learned on her journey of living with a debilitating illness in this interview about her book with broadcaster Hannah MacInnes. She discusses all the treasures she has learnt that have led her to be able to live freer and more joyfully despite her illness … She’ll also be willing to be posed any questions and just wants to have SUCH FUN with you all!

The Power of Classical Music

Alexander Armstrong | 3pm-4pm | Main Stage

Broadcaster Susannah Simons interviews actor, comedian and broadcaster Alexander Armstrong about his passion for classical music. Hosting a popular show on Classic FM, Armstrong shares his lifelong love for classical music and how he wants to demystify it and make it accessible, believing in its profound emotional power, its ability to enrich lives, and its potential to connect with audiences. He grew up immersed in classical music, finding solace and excitement in orchestras from a young age, and continues to champion it through broadcasting and singing.

Food, Deliciousness and Sustainability

Thomasina Miers | 4pm-5pm | Main Stage

Hannah MacInnes interviews renowned cook, food writer, TV presenter and restaurateur, Thomasina Miers, OBE, about her work integrating sustainability into the food industry. Famous for winning the 2005 MasterChef and co-founding the award-winning Mexican restaurant group Wahaca, Thomasina has a monthly recipe column in The Guardian and has authored nine cookbooks. She is an advocate for delicious food grown and produced in a way that benefits both nature and mankind. Half of the mouth-watering menu at her restaurant chain Wahaca is vegetarian; its beef comes from regenerative farms; and the group went carbon neutral in 2016. Thomasina’s passion lies in good food and its power to transform society. She helped set up Chefs in Schools in 2017, for which she is a trustee, a charity whose premise is to put trained chefs into school kitchens to make affordable, but delicious food to change how children eat and feel about food. 

In conversation with Clover Stroud. Floating Home: Lessons from a Life Less Ordinary

Adam Lind | 11:00-12:00 Lake Stage 

After losing his father, Adam Lind made a decision that changed everything. He spent five years hitchhiking across twenty-six countries – learning from the people who picked him up, sleeping under open skies, and discovering the extraordinary hidden in the everyday. Then Lind made a narrowboat his home, journeying on the UK’s waterways. In this talk, full of wisdom and humour, he gives insights into how any one of us can cultivate a sense of freedom and calm in our daily lives. Sharing what it means to live fully and the importance of human connection and community, he is joined on stage by bestselling author and journalist, Clover Stroud, who muses how home can be a feeling as much as a place. Bestselling writer Sarah Langford will moderate the conversation between Adam and Clover. 

The Hidden Seasons: A Calendar of Nature’s Clues and Signs

Tristan Gooley | 12pm-1pm | Lake Stage

Natural navigator Tristan Gooley will be interviewed by Lucy Lapwing to explain how to find your way using nature’s clues, sharing his expertise on signs from the sun, stars, plants, fungi, animals, water and weather. Autumn is a time for reading leaves, deciphering scents and investigating fungi. Spring is the time of wildflower signs, unique cloud shapes and curious animal behaviour. Summer is a time of coastal clues, astronomical extremes and secret grass patterns. In winter, we learn to read snow, deepen our star knowledge and use rare methods to find clues in overlooked places, including indoors. In this talk, Gooley shows how we continually miss these signs, because we don’t know how and where to look.

In conversation with Deborah Thomas. Manifest Your True Essence: Clear Your Blocks, Find Your Joy, Live Your Truth

Estelle Bingham | 1pm-2pm | Lake Stage

In this talk, energetic healer Estelle Bingham explores the transformative power of the heart with wisdom rooted in both ancient traditions and modern science. Bingham has spent more than 20 years working to support and reconnect people with their own power to heal, manifest and experience joy in their life. Interviewed by Deb Thomas, she will discuss ways to clear blocks, embrace truth and manifest your highest potential, and she will take audience questions in the second half of the talk.  

Nature Art for Children

Yuval Zommer | 2pm – 3pm | Lake Stage

Yuval will be leading a fun, interactive workshop for children inspired by his book Nature Art, and talking about his other work including the newly published The Whale that Sings in the Deep.

Yuval graduated from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Illustration. He worked as a creative director at leading advertising agencies before becoming the author and illustrator of highly acclaimed non-fiction. Yuval’s stunning ‘Big Book of…’ series encourages children to explore and care for our natural world. The series has now been published in 25 languages and has won and been shortlisted for numerous awards internationally, including the UKLA Book Awards 2018 & 2019, the English Association’s Nonfiction Award 2017 & 2019, and the Made For Mums Award 2018 & 2019.

Love is a Toad: Exploring our Relationship with Nature

Lucy Lapwing | 3-4pm | Lake Stage

Over the course of a year, wildlife campaigner and writer Lucy Lapwing roamed across the UK, traversing meadows, bogs and hedgerows with her fellow nature enthusiasts, in order to dig down into our relationship with the natural world. In this interview with author Nicola Chester, Lapwing describes the bucketfuls of wildlife she encountered – blackbird and oak, slugs and puffballs, waterlilies, dung beetles and toads – and describes the emotions they provoke. As well as awe, curiosity and a sense of community, Lapwing struggles with guilt and fear as the wildlife around us declines and disappears.

Natural Connection: What Indigenous Wisdom and Marginalised Peoples Teach Us

Joycelyn Longdon | 4pm-5pm | Lake stage

Environmental justice researcher Joycelyn Longdon talks to journalist Eleanor Mills about how indigenous wisdom and marginalized communities offer pathways to environmental action beyond traditional activism. Using stories from around the world, from the UK to the US, Iran, Brazil, Ghana and Ethiopia, Joycelyn highlights themes like rage, innovation, healing and care. She showcases the wonder of the natural world and inspires us to view climate action as a shared goal rather than an individual burden.

Ghosts of the Farm: the true story of two pioneering women farmers.

Nicola Chester | 5pm–6pm | Lake stage

Bestselling author Nicola Chester talks to regenerative farmer Sarah Langford about the story of two women who aspire to be farmers in the same fields, 60-80 years apart. Discovering the diary of a pioneering woman who bought a derelict farm during wartime, Nicola recounts a tantalising succession of coincidences with her own farming endeavours. From horse-drawn plough and steam driven threshing machines, to tractors and driving the first combine harvester in her village, Nicola confronts her own farming ghosts, prejudices and barriers, and the loss of community, wildlife and connection with the land and asks questions of the past, and its impact on the future. Why was the farmgate shut on these energetic, enterprising women after WWII, and what are the consequences? Given the importance of women to thriving communities, would farming and the countryside be in a much better place, if women had continued to lead?

Love, Anger and Betrayal: the story of Just Stop Oil

Jonathon Porritt | 6pm-7pm | Lake stage

The climate crisis is deepening fast, with terrifying predictability. While governments delay, a new generation of young campaigners have risen up to demand change. Many of them now face imprisonment for peaceful protest. In this talk, renowned environmentalist Jonathon Porritt describes the stories, fears and hopes of the young Just Stop Oil activists. Driven by a fierce belief in intergenerational justice, Jonathon Porritt unpicks the urgent moral questions raised by climate breakdown and civil disobedience.

Make a minizine sketchbook from Rewild This Book by Lizzie Lomax: An arts activity for children

Gemma Kirby | 11:00-11:30 & 16:00-16:30 | Book Nook

Get creative and make your own ‘minizine’ sketchbook, inspired by ‘Rewild this book’ by Lizzie Lomax. Suitable for all ages, may get messy! Gemma Kirby is an experienced Community Arts Practitioner as well as a Visual Artist. She works with all ages and likes to encourage people to have fun playing with creativity, promoting wellbeing and boosting confidence in creative abilities. Gemma likes to use upcycled & recycled materials in her own art and the workshops she runs. She also delivers short courses in Creative Journalling.

Origami Workshop: Fold it Calm

Li Kim Goh | 12:30-13:00 & 15:00-15:30 | Book Nook

Join Tik Tok sensation Li Kim Goh for a relaxing, hands-on origami workshop. Suitable for all ages, this session will introduce the basics of traditional Japanese paper folding, with step-by-step guidance to help you create beautiful models with confidence. 

Li Kim Goh is an illustrator, graphic designer and general maker-of-things. She has loved origami since she was a child, when her mother taught her to fold paper boats. In this event, Li Kim Goh will share origami techniques, some classic models as well as her own creations, demonstrating relaxing paper folding projects for all abilities. Finding that origami helps her to keep her mind clear and free from stress, she shares easy techniques so that everyone can find peace with origami.

Medicine: The Book of Truth

Moshe Halperin | 13:00-13:30 | Book Nook

Moshe Halperin is a co-founder of Medicine Festival, one of the world’s leading transformational festivals, reaching over 300,000 people globally through music, culture, and ceremony. At Well Read, he shares excerpts from his forthcoming book Medicine: The Book of Truth — literary myth, visionary fiction, modern sacred text – a cycle of dreamlike parables written in the liminal voice of people living in harmony. This is the story of how our world was created, of how the old world became the new world. This is the story of the leaders of the new tribes. This is the book of truth.

Birdsong & Chalkstreams

John Miller | 14:00-15:00 | Book Nook

John Miller is a passionate countryman, naturalist, and life-long observer of the British Countryside. He serves on the boards of The Atlantic Salmon Trust and Curlew Action and is an advocate for the introduction of a GCSE in Natural History. His newly published book One Day, A Thousand Songs explores the bird soundscape in his Wiltshire garden over the course of the day. His previous book What’s in a Year? offers a vivid portrait of the landscape’s ever-changing beauty, from the first signs of life in spring to the melancholic notes of a robin’s song in the autumn. Come and chat to him about exploring the nature on our doorstep, ways to create wildlife friendly environments, fishing, or even just hints on using the Merlin birdsong app to identify birds in your back garden. He’ll also be happy to sign copies of his books.

Wonderment Presents: Literature of the Land: Live at The Well Read Festival

Wonderment will be bringing its signature immersive storytelling to The Well Read Festival at Wasing Estate this Sunday, transforming the woodland dining area with beautiful land-foraged décor and comfortable outdoor and shaded seating.

Visitors can enjoy food and drinks from the Wasing Well Read Café and festival food outlets while encountering Literature of the Land: Live – a series of surprise literary appearances inspired by classic stories and woven into the landscape.

Expect fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream to emerge from the woods, while beloved characters from The Wind in the Willows make their way from the waterside, creating magical moments throughout the day.

The appearance offers a glimpse into the world of Wonderment in the Woods, the intimate retreat festival returning to Wasing Woods from 17–20 September. Now in its seventh year, the festival combines immersive theatre, storytelling, music, nature connection and creative experiences in a unique woodland setting.