Yesterday I went to Hay on Wye - bang in the middle of the Hay Festival. Only now, the Festival, despite it's name is no long held in Hay town, but in a field a few miles outside.
The reasoning behind this is hard to determine. Cars now park in waterlogged fields, people trek through mud and puddles, while the town centre is much less busy than before. One of the town centre car parks was completely empty, playing host to deserted funfair machinery that wasn't actually operating that day.
Hay Castle had some signs up for the 'REAL Hay Festival' but mostly people just wanted to get in somewhere, out of the rain. Many of them had children with them, and it was hard not to feel sorry for the poor little mites, wandering around in their wellies like unhappy, drenched, Paddington Bears.
Apart from the pubs and cafes, I'm not sure the festival brings much benefit to the town itself. And even less now that the festival has been moved...
