HAY Festival kicks off today with a spectacular programme of 700 events over 11 days, in 10 venues, plus pop-up cafés, restaurants, shops and exhibitions.

Coachloads of over-excited children arrive today from all over Herefordshire for two days of free events to inspire pupils at key stages 2, 3 and 4. There will be Shakespeare workshops led by RSC actors and best-selling authors to share their ideas.

Thursday is also a day for thinking green, when experts on climate change, energy, organic farming and responsible travel will be interviewed by the festival’s Sustainability Director, Andy Fryers.

On Saturday, HAYDAYS opens with the first of 100 events for families and children. Star names are Francesca Simon, Julia Donaldson, Patrick Ness and Julian Clary, along with genius illustrators Chris Riddell and Nick Sharratt. Professor Robert Winston will explain the mysteries of the human body in 60 minutes, and you can help to choose Roald Dahl’s most villainous villain with Blue Peter presenter Lyndsey Russell.

Highlights from the main programme are Hollywood superstar Tippi Hedren, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, Nobel Literature Laureate Svetlana Alexievich, and novelist Peter Carey. Evenings are dedicated to music – Suzanne Vega, KT Tunstall, Baaba Maal, and Bryn Terfel – and comedy, with Dara O Briain, Susan Calman, Sarah Millican and Marcus Brigstocke.

Local Herefordshire and Welsh talent is celebrated as always. Jasper Fforde, Bruce Robinson, Oliver Balch, Tom Bullough, Jenny Valentine, Rob Penn, John Lewis-Stempel and Jay Griffiths all present their latest work.

Letters Live returns by popular demand, after sell-out shows in 2014 and 2015 with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jude Law, presenting memorable letters in a dynamic new format.

And if romance is what you’re searching for, Finding Love in the Countryside on 2 June could help you find a soulmate online. Matchmaking experts reveal the path to roses round the door and, as Hay Festival has been called a ‘literary dating agency’, who knows what might happen?

To book tickets, visit hayfestival.org or ring the Box Office on 0149722629.