My Day at the Hay Festival

As you can probably tell, I went to one of the most famous literature festivals in the world: The Hay Festival. It was the bank holiday and so, everything else was closed and, on top of that, John Boyne was in conversation on one of the stages. John Boyne is an author that I have read profusely and I decided to take my mother since her favourite book is also by John Boyne: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I had spent the days before checking out what he had done in Bath and listening to his episode of Desert Island Discs in which he doesn't only list his favourite music but also gives us an insight into his writing process.

Getting to the Hay Festival was a bit difficult since I am from a city area and you know what that means? It means I don't do so well on long, winding country roads. It makes me dizzy and lightheaded. However, as we were travelling to the Hay Festival I did notice one thing: there were not a lot of chain places. Not many Costa Coffees, not many McDonald's Restaurants (actually, I don't think I saw any after I exited the city area) and finally, there were absolute no Starbucks cafes at all.

It took around two and a half hours for us to reach the festival and at that time, it was still coming alive. Things were opening, people were entering and we had about an hour or so to get ourselves a little bit to eat, drink some coffee and chill out from our long journey before getting in the queue to see John Boyne. I decided to take a couple of pictures as the sun was still out at this point.

Here is one I took of when we walked into the foyer where the bags were checked and we were permitted to sit around inside for a while.

We walked around the area for a bit and I was able to take some more photos of the various tents around us, including some beautiful shots of the 'Meadow Stage'. Even though it was smaller than the 'Wye Stage' which we were to attend, it was quite colourful and lovely to look at in the sun. I sat opposite it sipping an espresso and eventually, finishing a muffin before we went to line up for our own event.

When we went into the seating area for the Wye Stage, we were seated in the second row with two people we had met in the line sitting directly behind us. For confidentiality reasons I will not state their names but they were just as interested in John Boyne's works as we were and we talked for so long about his books in the queue that we hardly noticed how long we had been standing there. We talked a little more when we sat down and again, it must have been about twenty minutes to half an hour more. It was all great fun as we listed our favourite books by him and though we had mixed feelings about The Echo Chamber with me loving it and the woman I was talking to admitting she couldn't get into it - it was a fantastic conversation. Great humour and great conversation really made the day extra amazing for us all.

John Boyne spoke about his book Earth among others, talking about the quartet he has come to write and, is currently in the middle of. I was astounded to learn that he doesn't really do too much planning and figures things out for the character as they go along their journey in his book. My personal favourite books by him have been: Crippen, Mutiny on the Bounty and The Echo Chamber if I were to name three, but objectively The Heart's Invisible Furies is a favourite of everyone who's read a lot of Boyne novels no matter who they are. I have currently read all of his books and I seem to enjoy it when he explores some darkness, but enjoyed the third book I mentioned in my top three because it was so different to everything else he has ever written.

When he did a reading from Earth, I was so engrossed even though I had actually already read the book. An absolutely fantastic author who could write a book about watching paint dry and still manage to make it interesting - he has a real talent for writing high quality and intensely emotional novels. If you have no read him already, then can I recommend doing so immediately. You definitely need this author in your life. I spent many years reading and re-reading some of his books and I think if you really want to understand the weights upon the human heart and mind, then John Boyne is the author you want to read first.

We had our books signed by him after waiting in a queue for what was, I believe around twenty minutes. My mother got me to take a photograph of her with John Boyne and so I did (I won't be posting it here, I don't think my mother would want to be posted on my Vocal page). I do, however, have a picture of my signed copy to show you.

Unfortunately, in my stupor of attention I did not take any pictures of the actual event but you can find them I am sure, on various websites and social media pages dedicated to the Hay Festival.

I did, however, manage to take a picture of the canteen hall in which there were numerous different types of food. If you would like to imagine how full the festival was, then you can take a look at this image as it was only half of the hall as we were seated in the middle.

Many people had taken their food to the benches outside the hall and even to the grass and the walkways, so it was pretty much overflowing. You can really imagine the amount of people involved and none of them were pushing and shoving each other, everyone formed neat and orderly queues next to everything and people would leave after eating so that someone else could have the space. It is a lesson in British manners (and sometimes being overly polite).

We made our way to the bookstore mainly because I wanted to see the merchandise that was there (though I rarely indulge in festival merchandise as a purchase - I do enjoy looking at it and sifting through what is available). From candles to little phone stands, bags and t-shirts, notebooks and erasers - there were a million and one things that read The Hay Festival and all were rustic with bright colours. It was quite lovely.

But alas, it was eventually time to head home back through the country roads and into the city. I have to say though, I did quite miss having a coffee from Costa for a bit. Though the coffee shop at the Hay Festival was really nice, it didn't gain me any Costa Bean Points (of course, I am joking, the espresso was lovely and they have reusable cups for extra coffee with a pound off if you use your cup again - of course that would be if you should require a top up).

As you can tell, I had a wonderful time at the Hay Festival this year and I will definitely be returning for next year when there is yet another great line-up. To be honest, I really just wanted to share this with you and tell you how much I enjoyed being around various book folk like myself. But it is also to say that you should never be afraid of getting around people who are like you - you may make new friends, you may see something you've never seen and most importantly, you're going to have a lot of fun.