Hay Festival
The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales for ten days from May to June. Devised by Norman and Peter Florence in 1988, the festival was described by Bill Clinton in 2001 as "The Woodstock of the mind".[1] Since its inception, the festival was held at a variety of venues around Hay, including the local Primary School, until 2005 when it moved to a central location just outside of the town.[2] The Guardian has been the main sponsor of the festival since 2002, succeeding The Sunday Times. The Daily Telegraph and its associated brands in Telegraph Media Group were announced as the new sponsor for three years starting with the 2011 festival.[3]
The festival has expanded in recent years and now includes musical performances and film previews. A children's festival, "Hay Fever", runs alongside the main festival. It has also expanded internationally and sister festivals take place in Nairobi, Zacatecas, The Maldives, Kerala, Beirut, Belfast, Cartagena, the Alhambra Palace, Parc Prison in Bridgend and Segovia. In 2009 Hay Festival also took on the ailing Brecon Jazz Festival.
The 2009 festival included writers Carol Ann Duffy, David Simon, Stephen Fry, David Nicholls and Melvyn Bragg, scientists Martin Rees and Sabine Bahn, economists Anthony Giddens, Nicholas Stern, Howard Davies and Danny Quah, comedians Dylan Moran, Dara Ó Briain and Sandi Toksvig, and general speakers David Frost, Desmond Tutu, Rowan Williams and Rhodri Morgan.
The Hay Festival is one of 11 Welsh winners of The Queen's Awards for Enterprise for 2009.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Hide, Will (2007-01-20). "The world this week: find 'the Woodstock of the mind'". The Times (London). http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/article1294325.ece. Retrieved 2007-01-26.
- ^ Staff writer (2005-05-27). "Stars gathering for Hay Festival". BBC News Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4583121.stm. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ Singh, Anita (2010-10-29). "Telegraph signs deal to sponsor the Hay Festival of literature". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8095603/Telegraph-signs-deal-to-sponsor-the-Hay-Festival-of-literature.html.
- ^ BBC News - Hay Festival wins business honour
[edit] External links
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