Hay Festival this year celebrates two greats of literature with 2016 marking the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death and the 100th anniversary of Roald Dahl's birth.

The festival will be marking The Bard's 400th anniversary with a wide variety of events, including Gregory Doran, artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and this year’s Richard Dimbleby Lecturer, who discusses Shakespeare’s legacy in 2016. Deputy director Erica Whyman whose production of A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Play for the Nation is touring the country this year, talks about the production and the use of amateur companies to play the mechanicals. Germaine Greer will be talking about Shakespeare's poetry, while contemporary poets will be re-writing Shakespeare's sonnets and on Sunday, June 5, The Josephine Hart Poetry Hour: The Shakespeare Show will deliver an hour of the most important speeches and sonnets, with a cast to be announced on May 16.

Hay Festival will also celebrate the global impact of Shakespeare with an ambitious plan to create, commission and curate original short films that will bring his work to new audiences on digital platforms worldwide.

talkingaboutShakespeare will be a mixture of broadcast, new commissions, archive and content created by the general public. Films will include performance, lectures, poetry, animation and visual art, together exploring the contemporary resonance of Shakespeare’s language and plays across the world. The films will feature celebrated actors, directors, writers and academics, alongside the wider public who can actively participate in the project by contributing their own short film.

This year is also the first year in post for Julia Eccleshare, the new director of the children's and family programme, Haydays, a programme that promises a wealth of events and a dedicated hub for young adults. Among authors on the YA line-up are Carnegie Medal and Guardian Children's Fiction prize winner Melvyn Burgess, whose 1998 novel Junk about heroin-addicted teenagers on the streets of Bristol, propelled him to fame, and Holly Smale, creator of Geek Girl.

Haydays also features a number of events celebrating the work of fantastic Mr Dahl - The Magnard Ensemble, a lively, dynamic chamber group and narrator Rebecca Kenny explore the world of Roald Dahl’s poetry through live instrumental music and theatre. Accompany them and composers Paul Patterson and Martin Butler on an interactive musical adventure where you'll meet some of your favourite, familiar characters and you might even think that you know the stories, but take care – in the weird and wonderful world of Roald Dahl’s imagination nothing is ever quite what it seems. Elsewhere, top authors, supervised by Blue Peter presenter Lindsey Russell, will argue for their favourite Dahl villain - Miss Trunchball? The very hungry crocodile? Farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean? - and you can then cast your own vote!

And Dahl fans, wordsmiths and wannabe writers can join the Word Wizards as they swashboggle their way through the wonderful writing of Roald Dahl. Find out how to gobblefunk with words and hear all about the amazing new Roald Dahl Dictionary.

Hollywood glamour comes in the shape of Tippie Hedren, an actress who is one of the greatest stars of the golden age. She will be talking about her work with Hitchcock on Marnie and The Birds, her long acting career and her Shambala Preserve for Endangered Big Cats.

And, as ever, there's comedy, with the return of the ever-popular Dara O'Briain opening the festival and music comes from, among others, Suzanne Vega, KT Tunstall and rising Brazilian star Flavia Coelho.

Add in a Nobel Laureate, Man Booker Prize winners and the return of Caitlin Moran with her Moranifesto and it's clear that Hay Festival 2016 offers an event with all the elements that combine to create an exciting 10 days of literature, music, comedy and more. And with the EE Referendum just days after the festival ends, there's certain to be much heated debate on the in/out issue of the day.

On Sunday, June 5, the festival's grand finale sees Welsh legends Bryn Terfel and Rebecca Evans sing a concert of solos and duets by Purcell, Mozart, Obradors, Clara Schumann, Finzi, Quilter and Meirion Williams.

For full programme details, visit hayfestival.org or call the box office on 01497 822629