The eighth annual Hay Festival Forum kicks off Oct. 17, bringing an impressive cross-section of inquiring minds to five venues across Dallas.
Poets, essayists, anthropologists and journalists will be on hand through Oct. 19 to celebrate individual perspectives on some of the world’s most pressing questions — as will a few musicians.
Two of particular note — Fugazi’s Brendan Canty and Gang of Four’s Hugo Burnham — will engage in a conversation at the Texas Theatre on Oct. 19 at 5:30 p.m. They’ll be joined by moderator David A. Ensminger.
Per the Hay Festival promotional materials, “Canty and Burnham [will] reflect on what it meant to build music from the margins —one from Washington, D.C.’s DIY punk scene, the other from Leeds’ art school revolution. They’ll discuss how percussion became a form of protest, how band dynamics mirrored political struggle, and how sound continues to serve as a tool for cultural disruption.”
That exchange is part of the Hay Festival Forum’s overarching goal to “share ideas, different perspectives and provoke conversations that can create a better world,” per its press materials. The global event was founded in 1987 in the town of Hay-on-Wye, Wales, and the charity organization also maintains digital platforms allowing consumption of its discussions year-round.
Who is Brendan Canty?
Canty is a founding member of Washington D.C. art-punk foursome Fugazi, alongside Ian MacKaye, Joe Lally and Guy Picciotto. Fugazi exploded onto the DIY scene in the late 1980s, releasing its debut album, Repeater, in 1990. The band persisted until 2003, when it went on an indefinite hiatus that continues to this day. “We always see each other in town, and we’re always working on other reissue projects,” Canty said in a 2024 documentary, as reported by Consequence. “I mean, we’re just in each other’s lives a lot so, you know, it’s not up to me whether we get the band back together. If it was up to me, we’d be out there playing, but it’s not that easy.”
Who is Hugo Burnham?
Burnham is a founding member of British post-punk band Gang of Four, alongside Jon King, Andy Gill and Dave Allen. Burnham has been a member in three different iterations of the group — from 1976-1982, 2004-2006 and 2021-2025 — performing on the seminal albums Entertainment! and Solid Gold. Gang of Four recently wrapped its farewell tour, which featured original members King and Burnham. “In many ways, [it’s] quite different to every tour before,” Burnham told KCRW earlier this year. “What has been quite moving is [that] Jon and I both go to the merch table after the show finishes … the lines have been long, and without hyperbolizing, grown men [have been] crying and saying: ‘You changed my life, or you saved my life.’”
For more information about the pair’s conversation as part of this year’s Hay Festival Forum in Dallas, or to purchase tickets for the event, visit here.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky (@prestonjones.bsky.social).Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
