The Hay Festival

Hay literature/​literary/​book festival (delete as appropriate according to your level of comfort with intellectualism) is an annual, original, event in a small Welsh town on the edge of the Black Mountains. Set in neatly organised marquees in fields outside the town, it’s a big-​time publishing love-​in, that attracts anorak-​wearing book worms, country types called Georgie or Bubbles, earth-​mother families and the odd American ex-​president.
This years event was good for me. I avoided fiction and focussed on behavioural economics, natural capital, craftsmanship and graphic novels. Where can you hear such a varied roster of genres?
I came away with ideas for my own work, pleasure and purpose. Just one day at this event will inspire, or do as many more indulgent readers do, and camp out nearby each year with those relatives you don’t really like, but are ideally placed for a yearly Maytime visit.
I love looking around and seeing a sea of readers, sat in deck chairs, ignoring their friends and just reading. From real, hard bound, books. It’s a small, well organised festival with activities and facilities for all, and affordable. If you’re a publishing nerd, it’s nirvana.

Hay-​on-​Wye is one of my favourite places to go even when there’s no festival gracing us with its presence. A small village tucked away in the rolling Welsh countryside, filled to the brim with bookshops of all descriptions and twinned with Timbuktu; this is a unique find.
But once a year this little town becomes even fuller with excitement and literature. The Hay Festival of Literature and Arts is a mecca for anyone with a love of words and the secrets that can be entangled within them.
With writers from all walks, such as Jasper Fforde, Salman Rushdi, Bill Bryson, Martina Cole and Quentin Blake, there really is something for everyone. Each performance, discussion or lecture is individually priced, from £4-£10, and intensive three day courses for £375.
This is a week-​long festival with an incredibly large selection of activities to take part in. It may well be hard to choose where to go and who to see, but that’s about the only problem you’ll have should you come to this festival.