Had my first experience of The Hay on Wye Book Festival yesterday. Must admit it was quite surreal. Hay is a lovely small town on the border of Wales and England. Gelli Gandryll in Welsh.
Found the Kilverts Inn easily enough. Attempted to park in front of it a couple of times but there was room enough for the car as long as you didn’t wantto get out of it. Eventually alighted on the perfect spot in the hotel car park at the rear. The car will now stay put until Wednesday.
Couple of beers with Rhys and Iwan then a stroll to the festival shuttle bus. The surreal bit was the people. Guardian readers one and all from an almost exclusively white middle class background, or so it seemed. Plenty of bookshops, which I like and will visit this morning.
Then we met Eirian and the rest of the family at the festival site. Eirian had managed to procure a ticket return for the Nick Cave session. Three quid. Bargain. We arrived at the marquee just in time.
Now I’d not heard of Nick Cave before I saw him yesterday. An Australian rockstar, apaz. He was entertaining enough. Just as entertaining were the poncey questions people in the audience asked him towards the end of the set. Pretentious in the extreme.
We ended up at the Black Lion for some great jazz. They played Round Midnight (for me) with the harmonica instead of trumpet. Twas brilliant. Surprisingly there weren’t many in. Maybe literary types get to bed early with a good book.
While I’m in Gelli Gandryll I’m going to see a few sessions but the main thing is to be here and enjoy the atmosphere. I’ve realised I’m not the book luvvie that most people here seem to be. I do read a lot of books but that is different from being a luvvie.
At breakfast there was a family of three who had all been reading the same book. Wot! It just ain’t me.
Felt quite relaxed at breakfast. Solo traveller but I am meeting Rhys and Eirian later and Steve Wildthing is coming down from Lincoln this pm.