Winter Festival

There's going to be a lot going on over the weekend of the 29th November to 1st December.
First of all, it's the weekend of the Hay Winter Festival. As usual, they have an interesting and varied line up of events - Ranulph Fiennes, the life of Eartha Kitt, the history of cats, and Peter Pan among them. Alison and Laurence Matthews are doing a talk called Zoom Control on the Sunday morning - looking at the big picture and hoping to unlock a saner future! Alison is one of the ladies who goes to Stitch and Bitch, and another Stitch and Bitch lady, Kitty Corrigan, is chairing a talk on Women in Business on the Saturday, with local businesswomen Claire Trumper of Trumper's Tea, Liz Knight of Forage Fine Foods and Allie and Ella Thomas of Cradoc's Savoury Biscuits.

I went down to the Drill Hall to book tickets only to find that my first choice, the Inaugural Smith-Soldat Memorial Lecture on the Buildings of Wales by Robert Scourfield, had sold out very quickly. They have organised a second talk on the Sunday, but sadly, I will be working then, so I'll have to miss this one. I was pleased to see that Rob Soldat, the storyteller and local historian who died earlier this year, will be remembered in this way. I hope there will be many more lectures to come.
So I went for my second choice - Phil Rickman talking about his latest Merrily Watkins novel, The Magus of Hay. He had to get round to Hay sooner or later! This is on the Sunday evening, so I can go after work. Yet another Stitch and Bitch lady, Tracy, does occult and esoteric research for Phil. (Stitch and Bitch sessions are really just a front for a cunning plan to take over Hay! And after that, the world!!!)

Over the same weekend, there will be a marquee erected on the car park in the middle of town for the Food Festival, always a good excuse to stock up on little luxuries. That's on the Saturday, and on the evening of Friday the 29th, the marquee will be used for local businesses to show off their wares for the Turning on of the Christmas Lights. Guest celebrity this year is Mac Eager, who has been keeping the streets of Hay clean for over twenty years, and there will also be carol singing and mulled wine. The fencing around the Cheesemarket will be coming down to make room for everything, and then going up again the following week.

Then on the Sunday, it's Vintage Day. This will be the third Hay Does Vintage Fayre, and will include furniture, jewellery, curios and upcycled items as well as vintage clothes. It also includes the Travelling Tea Room, serving tea and cakes on vintage bone china.