Hay Festival 2011

For ten days in early summer each year, the Hay Festival takes over a small, book obsessed town in the Brecon Beacons. I finally made the pilgrimage to the ‘Woodstock for the mind’ last Sunday, the final day of the 2011 Festival.*

Fairly typically for a day out in Wales at this time of year, (I can say this. I am Welsh and have lived in Wales most of my life, so rain rarely surprises me) the rain made sporadic appearances throughout the day, usually just after everyone had dried off. Anyone who’s been to the festival in recent years knows this isn’t too much of a problem though. Since 2005, the festival has commandeered a rather large field where a series of linked marquees keep festival goers shielded from the harshness of the Welsh weather. Connected by green, carpeted walkways, once inside the festival, you needn’t leave (though you would be missing out on the many excellent bookstores in the town). Everything you could want is onsite: an abundance of coffee bars; food; bars; onsite bookstores; various entertainments and the poshest portaloos in the British Isles (Complete with faux wood panneling and watercolour pictures, I'll have you know!).

Enjoying a brief, dry spell

The rain didn’t seem to put off the crowds, who had travelled to hear the likes of Simon Sebag Montefiore in the Oxfam tent and Howard Jacobson on his Booker Prize winning novel The Finkler Question. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have a ticket to any of the events, so I wandered about soaking up the general atmosphere. 

At times it was a bit quiet, but in between events, the green pathways swarmed with book lovers young and old, marching along to the next event. Considering the subject matter and that reading is a pretty sedate pastime, the atmosphere was pretty lively with lots of families with young children in tow, enjoying all the child friendly stalls in the main festival as well as the specific children’s Hayfever part of the festival.  

One of the highlights of Hay is the possibility of brushing elbows with some of the most noteworthy writers of the day. If any of them were still to be found on the last day of the festival, they were all hiding in the VIP tent or busy holding intellectual talks because I didn't see any of them. The only brief brush with celebrity spotting I had came very early in the day in the form of a book signing with the presenter from Dragon’s Den. No glimpse of Stephen Fry, no JK Rowling hiding behind a pair of dark glasses…. Oh well, you win some, you loose some I suppose.

 

Some of my Hay 'swag'

I’ve come away with a pile of goodies including several free canvas bags, a dvd of The Book Show, free e-books and even some free flowers (courtesy of the nice lady who had some leftover from her stall). I have to admit that I did succumb to the lure of the Oxfam bookshop after finding some gems, but in keeping with my reading resolution, those few books I couldn’t leave languishing on the shelf have been locked away, out of my possession until I’ve completed my task and have finished reading all the books on my shelf. Ok so, I’ve cheated a little, but not buying any books for over six months is quite an achievement for me! Perhaps most importantly though, I managed to get my hands on a much coveted Penguin mug after years of  mug envy from the lucky owners I knew. 

Free Flowers!

After mooching around the festival for a few hours, we wandered into the town of Hay on Wye in between rain showers and got lost in lots of nice little bookshops. Some of them were quite labyrinthine in nature: I lost my sister in one to the great amusement of the girl behind the counter, who watched me flitting back up and down the various levels in search of my errant family member with a barely suppressed, good natured grin. Due to the frankly overwhelming number of bookshops on offer, I didn’t have as much time to browse as I would have liked: all the more reason to go back next year!

There’s so much going on in the festival, it probably would have made more sense to stay in the area for a few days. Hopefully I’ll get to see some of the talks next time as well. 

* Bill Clinton