Unicorns, Almost at the Winter Festival

It's not long now to the Winter Festival.
It starts on Thursday 28th November and goes on until Sunday 1st December, and is the more intimate, smaller version of the main, summer Hay Festival. Venues are a 500 seater tent on the Cattle Market (the Baillie Gifford tent), St Mary's Church and the School Hall.
It was at the summer Hay Festival that the one man play Unicorns, Almost was launched. It was written by Owen Sheers, one of Hay's local authors, about a Second World War poet, Keith Douglas, who was a tank commander in the African desert war. It was a great success, and went on to Edinburgh Festival - and now they're back in Hay, still with Dan Krikler playing Keith Douglas. There will be a 20 minute question and answer session after the play with Dan, Owen and the producer John Retallack.
I wasn't able to go when it was first performed - there were too many other things going on at the time - so I'm glad to have a second chance to go to see it now.

I was hoping to see Mike Pitts the archaeologist, too, but his talk is happening while I'm working. Instead, I'll be going to see Thomas Waters talk about the history of witchcraft and black magic in modern times.

There will also be several woodland walks, and the Flying Pig Cookery School.
Jackie Morris will be painting a red fox on stage, and talking about the Welsh language version of her collaboration with Robert Macfarlane, The Lost Words - Geiriau Diflanedig. There's a rather nice Lost Words calendar on sale at the Poetry Bookshop at the moment, which I treated myself to.
Father Richard will be playing the organ to accompany the silent classic Metropolis - both showings are already sold out.
Jane Dodds, Tom Davies and Fay Jones - the Lib Dem, Labour and Conservative candidates in the up-coming General Election, will be holding a free but ticketed hustings.
There's an update on what's happening at Hay Castle, memories of King Richard Booth, Mid Wales Opera, Archbishop John Sentamu, and historian Max Hastings talking about the Dambuster Raid - and more!
There will also be a scratch Messiah at St Mary's Church - the ticket includes two rehearsals and a copy of the score.

Cerys Matthews will be there - and she's also turning on the Christmas Lights this year.
Also in the square, on Saturday there's the Winter Food Fair, and on Sunday the Hay Artisan Market.