HowTheLightGetsIn: a celebration of philosophy and music

HowTheLightGetsIn, the world’s largest festival of philosophy and music, is back in its spiritual home this year after two years of virtual events.

“We are delighted to be returning to Hay in the magical location on the edge of the Black Mountains alongside the river Wye,” said Hilary Lawson, the festival director and founder of the Institute of Art and Ideas. “We can’t wait to welcome everyone back for four days of electrifying debate, music, comedy, and our legendary party atmosphere.”

Over the Platinum Jubilee weekend, from 2 to 5 June, an unrivalled roster of philosophers, politicians, scientists, comedians and musicians will decamp to Hay-on-Wye to reflect on the human condition – and do their best to improve it.

Having taken its name from a Leonard Cohen lyric (“There is a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in”), HowTheLightGetsIn gives a “a cerebral twist” to the traditional summer gathering, said Culture Whisper. “Gone are the days when festivals were just an amalgamation of guitars, glitter and warm cider.”

Indeed this year’s event will include Richard Dawkins discussing the legacy of The Selfish Gene, Nobel prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose talking about the fantasy of the multiverse, firebrand philosopher Slavoj Zizek talking about our trust in nature with and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Andrea Elliott on whether Camus or Kafka were right about the individuals’ relationship to society. 

“When HowTheLightGetsIn was founded, philosophy was regarded as something of a joke, more associated with the Monty Python philosophers’ football match than anything that might be seen to have relevance to all of us,” Lawson said. The festival was set up to change all that. “Its goal then and now has been to return philosophy to big ideas, and to put these ideas at the heart of our culture.”

While the live-streamed events of the past two years promised to “keep your mind aglow during lockdown”, said Philosophy News, the easing of restrictions provides an opportunity to get together in the flesh and take stock. “The pandemic has returned people to the big philosophical questions that affect our lives,” Lawson told HuffPost UK last year. “What is the aim of life, what is the nature of reality?” 

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/arts-life/956291/howthelightgetsin-a-celebration-of-philosophy-and-music