An ambitious new addition to the UK’s cultural calendar, the Hereford Military History Festival will debut this autumn from Friday 26 to Sunday 28 September 2025, with a rich and varied programme of talks, panel discussions, school events, history trails, music and performance.
Set across historic venues including Hereford Cathedral, The Green Dragon Hotel, and the newly refurbished Castle Green Pavilion, tickets have gone on sale for the first five headline events, giving a glimpse of the impressive line-up of internationally renowned writers and thinkers secured for 2025:
• Sir Antony Beevor and Major General Denaro will discuss warfare’s evolution, from conventional battles to drone strikes and anti-terror operations
• Ben Macintyre will explore the 1980s Iranian Embassy siege brought to life in his latest book through unpublished sources, SAS interviews, and testimonies from hostages, negotiators, and psychiatrists
• Daniel Finkelstein will talk about Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad, a deeply moving and harrowing memoir about the experiences of Finkelstein’s parents at the hands of the two genocidal dictators of the twentieth century
• British politician and former MP, Nicholas Soames, will be in conversation about leadership, legacy, war and his grandfather, Winston Churchill
• Hamblett Productions presents Dear Loll, an intimate insight into the love and longing through the wartime letters of journalist Gerard Fay and his wife Alice during WW2, brought to life for the stage.
Providing a thorough exploration of global military history through a variety of themes, the festival will become a place for intelligent conversations about conflict, and the lessons the past holds for current moment of geopolitical instability.
The festival will also feature talks and discussions with Kate Adie, Philippe Sands, Claire Mulley and Conn Iggulden, with the full programme due to be announced later in the summer. The inaugural programme will touch upon important milestones including the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII and, in future years, will cover the 90th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War, and 250th anniversary of the American War of Independence.
Steeped in history, Hereford is the perfect setting for the new festival, having been a military stronghold for over two millennia — from Roman legions to the SAS. Founder and CEO, Christian Dangerfield, has been an active part of projects to strengthen the city’s visitor economy – including the renovation of the eleventh century Green Dragon Hotel and the successful bid for the Government’s Stronger Towns Fund programme. He said:
“We started thinking about the festival in 2020, a long time before defence and geopolitics came back into focus in such a big way. The SAS garrison on the edge of the city, with helicopters going to and for, are a constant reminder of what’s going on in the world. Lyndy Cooke and Jo James of Handheld Events have put together a terrific speaker programme and I think the range and diversity of the talks will be very thought-provoking and stimulating. I would like to think that we will make a positive contribution to the current debate and that the festival will frame the re-evaluation of Britain’s role in the emerging landscape in an intelligent and multi-dimensional context.”
Festival organisers have partnered with Rossiter Books to run the on-site bookshop, and 10% of all ticket sales will be donated to the Herefordshire Veterans Support Centre.
Alongside public events, the festival will host a schools programme aimed at helping young people better understand the role of military history in shaping the modern world — particularly important in a county where over 25% of the population has connections to the armed forces.
Tickets are on sale now at: www.militaryhistoryfestival.co.uk (Site should be live soon)
Headline sponsor allpay said: “Supporting the Hereford Military History Festival as headline sponsor is a natural fit for allpay. As a business rooted in Herefordshire, we’re proud to back an event that honours service, sacrifice, and community. It’s a privilege to stand behind those who have given so much.”
