The words ‘Hay Festival’ and ‘sunshine’ rarely go together but today has been a scorcher and the site has been crawling with hundreds of excited, red-faced, panting, school children. It’s Day One of the Schools’ Programme and I’ve been leaping about enthusiastically, talking about life in medieval England.
I’ve been appearing at Hay since the festival was held on the school site in town, and have seen its transmogrification over the years as it edges down the hill. It gets bigger and bigger but still manages to retain its unique Hay feel, as well as attracting a wonderfully diverse mix of speakers. You never know who you’re going to bump into in the green room or when being chaperoned to your next venue.
As for the venues they’re on the very side of big; a fantastic opportunity for authors and illustrators to interact with literally hundreds and hundreds of schoolchildren… ending in the bookshop, as a buzzing blur of children descend on authors like locusts, to have their books signed. In the heat. Did I mention the heat? There will be plenty of jugs of water consumed on stage over the next few days, I’ll wager. But, whatever the weather, I’m looking forward to returning soon. Maybe even next year.