Hay Festival

Bonhomie, Burlesque and Balls Up in Hay

June 2nd, 2009 • Peter • 0 comments • Related • Filed Under

There’s nothing so dead as a festival that’s just finished, but this year’s Hay Fest has passed on leaving some great memories of sun-soaked days, contented punters, gallons of laughter, spectacle, revelation and vision revived. Scattered among the keystone interviews and discussions – Tutu, Bennett, Fry, Paxman – was the usual plethora of smaller events, niche books, anorak authors, and the downright wacky, like Blaize, Immodesty – as she appears in the index – who put on a short but powerful display of Burlesque on Saturday night.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Hay in May in Full Bloom

May 26th, 2009 • Peter • 1 comment • Related • Filed Under

Listen to this post by clicking here. Alternatively, right-click the link and press ‘Save Link As’ if you wish to download the file to listen later.

This year’s Hay Lit Fest – one of my favourite events – has flowered as never before. Seduced by a full-on sun from dawn to dusk over the weekend, the punters have flocked in. After the utter drenching of last year’s festival, and wary of the effects of the recession on the bibliophilic public, Peter Florence and his dedicated gang of supporters took the decision to remove one venue and to reduce ticket prices. As it happens, last year they lost one tented stage to the torrents anyway, when it became instead a muddy tented swimming pool.

The result of the price cut has been that show after show has been selling out and the whole place is seething with thousands of people cramming walkways resounding with cries of ‘Sorry! So sorry!’ as they cannon into one another or splodge their neighbours with Shepherds ewes’ milk ice-cream.

Popularity: 1% [?]