culture
January 31, 2026
Libros, ideas y diálogos: el papel del Hay Festival 2026 en Cartagena
En Cartagena, enero no es solo sinónimo de sol y murallas. Desde hace años, también es el mes en que la ciudad se convierte en un gran auditorio abierto donde escritores, periodistas, artistas y ciudadanos se sientan a pensar el presente. El Hay Festival vuelve a ocupar teatros, patios coloniales y universidades con una programación que desborda la literatura para tocar asuntos urgentes como la participación ciudadana y el lugar de América Latina en el mundo.
TL;DR
- The Hay Festival in Cartagena is a platform for discussion on democracy, citizenship, and the future.
- The event gathers writers, journalists, artists, and citizens to reflect on the present and urgent issues.
- Paula Villegas highlights conversation as a means for societal reflection and generating unique perspectives.
- The festival adapts its programming to local contexts in Mexico, Peru, and Colombia, addressing regional concerns.
- In Cartagena, there's a focus on debates about citizenship and democracy, analyzing the present reality of the country.
- The Hay Forum in Medellín is a more compact version of the festival, combining creative industries with international discussions.
- A key challenge is to expand audiences beyond regular readers and attendees.
- The festival uses various formats like workshops, clubs, talks, and virtual streams to diversify its audience.
- Some programming in Cartagena is free for residents of Bolívar department to strengthen local ties.
- The festival's lasting impact is attributed to its consistent presence and the memory of the ideas shared.
- The Hay Festival encourages a slow, collective exercise of thinking together in an era of polarization and immediacy.
- Culture, as presented by the festival, not only entertains but also provokes, questions, connects, and plants enduring ideas.