Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
politicians (Rhodri Morgan, Gordon Brown, Al Gore). It's proved such a popular formula
that there are now Hay Festivals in Segovia, Alhambra, Cartagena, Zacatecas and Nairobi.
As well as readings, workshops, book signings, concerts and club nights, there's also a
very successful children's festival called Hay Fever. There are shuttle buses from Hay-on-
Wye and surrounding towns to the site, in fields on Hay's southwest fringe
HowtheLightGetsIn
(
http://howthelightgetsin.org
;
Jun)
Hay is upping its festival credentials with HowtheLightGet-
sIn, a high-powered philosophy and music event at the end of June.
MUSIC, PHILOSOPHY
Hay Bike Fest
(
http://haycycling.org
;
Apr)
The new Hay Bike Fest in April includes skills sessions, demos
and a thigh-crunching ride in the nearby mountains.
CYCLING
RICHARD BOOTH, KING OF HAY
Richard Booth is a larger-than-life character and the dynamic force behind Hay's metamorphosis from declining
border town into eminent book capital. A provocative character, he's been called a monarchist, anarchist, socialist
and separatist. All of which have some element of truth, and he's definitely a superb self-publicist. After graduat-
ing from Oxford he bought Hay's old fire station and turned it into a secondhand bookshop. He bought whole lib-
raries from all over the world and sold in bulk to new universities. He's had setbacks, becoming bankrupt in 1984,
but never lost his instinct for a good story. He first hit the headlines when he offered books for burning at £1.50 a
car-boot load.
Booth established the world's largest bookshop in the old cinema before opening Booth Books and Hay Castle
Books. His success attracted other booksellers and nowadays there are over two dozen bookshops in tiny Hay-on-
Wye.
The idea for a separate state blossomed during a liquid lunch in 1976. Booth announced that Hay would de-
clare independence on 1 April (April Fools' Day). Breconshire Council fiercely dismissed the idea as a Booth
publicity stunt, which only fuelled the media hype. On declaration day, three TV stations, eight national newspa-
pers and the world's press covered the event. Booth was crowned king (King Richard, Coeur de Livre) and the
Hay navy sent a gunboat (a rowing boat) up the Wye, firing blanks from a drainpipe. Many of the king's drinking
pals gained cabinet posts.
All this comedy has a serious undercurrent, and Booth continues to campaign against the causes of rural de-
cline - with particular contempt reserved for rural development boards, supermarkets and factory farming.
Sleeping
Bear
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