Raising the Profile of Hay

News of the Revolution has reached Private Eye, which published a little article last week - for more details look down the links on the side bar for Paul at Oxford House. There'll be another meeting of the Revolutionary Council of Ministers at the Council Chambers on the evening of the 18th December - I can't go, unfortunately; I shall be enjoying myself at the Three Tuns with the rest of the Cinema staff.
And when I bumped into Boz the other day, he said he was going to be the Revolution's Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder General. "I'm going to get myself a Shetland pony and go around looking for witches," he said. He didn't say what he'd do if he found any!

Meanwhile, other developments are stirring. There was a big meeting in April at the Granary, to discuss the prospects of getting more publicity for Hay and the surrounding area, and now they're ready to move on, with another meeting on 14th January at the Globe, at 10am. It's being organised by a chap with the wonderful name Punch Maughan. He's the Director General of the Brecon Beacons Tourism Group.
He sent me the minutes of their last meeting for this area (they moved on to Llandovery after Hay), and it makes some good points.
The website, they said, is dated and not user-friendly.
Fewer visitors are coming, and this is partly because Richard Booth is no longer so proactive in getting publicity, partly the credit crunch, more people are buying books over the Internet, and the Festival is not in the centre of town any more.
While the Festival is good at raising the profile of Hay, when the visitors are here, it takes a bit of an effort to move out of the Festival site up to the town.

On the plus side, we have a lot to offer besides the books - the Wye Valley Walk, Offa's Dyke Path, Golden Valley nearby, the Black and White Village Trail and the National Park. We have good parking, and visitor-focussed businesses are open all the time.

I won't be able to go to that one, either, but I'll be interested to hear what's said - I'm sure I can find out from Mary!