2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Zoe Chamberlain)
There can be few things more cosy than snuggling up with a hot chocolate and a good book when the nights draw in. There's a town, just two hours from Birmingham , that's known as a haven for book lovers. Hay-on-Wye was decreed the world's first 'Book Town' back in 1962, the atmospheric streets are lined with 20 bookshops, selling everything from murder-mysteries and comics to first editions and pre-loved bargains.
You can go for a mooch anytime but it's during the spring that the place becomes awash with people travelling from across the globe to visit the much-loved Hay Festival. However, there is also a Winter Weekend event for book lovers that coincides with the Christmas lights switch on, offering four days of candle-lit storytelling and 'snuggly loveliness'. Read next: Christmas 2024 events around Birmingham you'll want to get tickets for now Read next: I found a 'Christmas Cabin' at a Birmingham Marks & Spencer taking me back to my childhood Taking place from November 28 to December 1, the Hay Festival Winter Weekend is a celebration of books, comedy, music and family workshops with more than 70 artists taking part in over 60 events.
It all starts with the lights switch-on on the Friday evening. New for 2024 is a 350-seater marquee in the grounds of Hay Castle, which will enable triple the number of guests to attend compared to last year. There will also be talks and workshops happening across the historic town, such as in the Castle’s Clore space, St Mary’s Church and The Poetry Bookshop.
Read our full guide to all the bookshops in Hay-on-Wye here Highlights for this year's programme include novelists Ali Smith and Paula Hawkins; actors Rupert Everett, Paterson Joseph and Luke Evans; comedians Russell Kane and Vic Reeves; broadcaster Cerys Matthews; musician Arun Ghosh; supervet Noel Fitzpatrick; historians Sarah Clegg and Jonathan Dimbleby; classicist Natalie Haynes and broadcasters Carol Vorderman and Kevin McCloud. Find out more and book tickets via the Hay Festival website. And, if you can't make it over to Hay-on-Wye, you can also live stream the event too.
Listen to our Brummie Mummies Podcast on the secret to getting your kids to love reading with Jenny McCann from the Bear Bookshop: If you can get there, be sure to have a wander around the historic town where you'll discover the labyrinth of Addyman Books where the displays are made from the interior of a Transylvanian Church; bargain books in the Sculpture Garden of the converted cinema bookshop and the chalk outline of a dead body on the floor in the Murder and Mayhem detective book store. There's also vintage clothes, vinyl and jewellery to mooch plus lunch in The Old Electric Shop which offers 'grotto of curiosities'. How to get to Hay-on-Wye from Birmingham Set on the Herefordshire / Welsh border, this Marches town is on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park so keep your eyes peeled for buzzards and kites.
Hay-on-Wye is just over two hours from Birmingham, traffic permitting, via the M5 and A4103. Or you can catch a train from Birmingham New Street Station, switching to a bus at Hereford and getting off at Hay Castle. The bus service takes around an hour and can be infrequent so it's best to check ahead.
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