HAY Festival basked in sunshine at the weekend as festival-goers enjoyed appearances by heavy hitters such as Gordon Brown, Chelsea Clinton and David Miliband.

The number of tickets sold at this year’s festival hit 273,000 – up 18,000 on 2017 – with attendees from over 40 countries, ranging from Afghanistan to Argentina.

Festival book sales were also up, by 6.4 per cent, with the top sellers being Letters to the Future by Laura Bates and Owen Sheers and The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell in the children’s section.

Readers from around the world were joined by 700 policy makers, pioneers and innovators in 800 events across 11 days.

On the final day Gordon Brown spoke about his conviction that the UK still has a future in Europe. He said the referendum in 2016 was a reminder that Britain should “take seriously” the anger and frustrations that caused voters to back Leave. But he urged his listeners not to lose heart in the fight to keep Britain in the EU.

He said: “Once you decide that the purpose of Europe is to balance the autonomy people want, with the cooperation people need, we can move forward. I personally believe we will be in Europe, whether it’s back in Europe or in Europe, in the next few years, and I believe we can win this argument. But we can’t win the argument without dealing with the fundamental issues that are raised.”

Chelsea Clinton was involved in two events, one on Saturday night during which she spoke about global public health issues with Professor Devi Sridhar and one on Sunday morning when she and BBC One Show presenter Alex Jones discussed her ‘She Persisted’ children’s books.

The ‘She Persisted’ books highlight inspiring women who have overcome the odds to become role models for young women around the world. Among those named in her latest book are JK Rowling, Marie Curie, Sally Ride, Kate Shepherd and Malala Yousafzai.

‘She Persisted’ became an idea, Clinton said, when US senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced by Republicans while reading out a letter by Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King. Senator Mitch McConnell defended Warren’s silencing, and said that “nevertheless, she persisted” in trying to speak.

Clinton said that women are often raised to be polite and apologetic whereas: “We need to realise that we can be both kind and bold.” To do so, she encourages parents and teachers to treat young boys and girls in the same manner.

Children’s book author Atinuke was delighted with the response she received from families who attended her talks on the Starlight stage. Atinuke writes the Anna Hibiscus books about a young girl’s adventures in Africa. Atinuke, who grew up in Nigeria but now lives in Pembrokeshire, said: “I love Hay Festival. The audiences here are always so engaged. It’s also a great opportunity to meet and chat to other authors. I’ve been several times now and every time I have a new book I’ll be coming back.”

Causing perhaps the biggest stir of the weekend was Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch who made an unheralded appearance in the BBC Tent.

Another big hit with some Hay fans was former Labour politician David Miliband who spoke to Jim Naughtie about his work with refugees as president of the International Rescue Committee.

Christine Jolley from Sheffield, who had come to Hay-on-Wye with her husband Chris, said David Miliband was one of the highlights. She was also hoping to see Gordon Brown and said she had enjoyed TV adventurer Bear Grylls’ talk even though “he was an hour late and the talk only lasted half an hour”.

Mrs Jolley said it was their second visit to Hay and they had enjoyed this visit as much as their first time. She added: “The parking seems much better this year although the food and drink is quite pricey - we had to pay £5.60 for a tea and a coffee.”

Another person who was happy with the parking was Ceri McKenna from Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire. She said £7 to park all day “does not seem too much when the money goes to charity”.

She was here with her husband and two other couples. They had all been to Hay before and liked to split up and go to whatever talks appealed. Ceri said she would have liked the details of each talk to be printed on the festival tickets as she had not realised the Chelsea Clinton event on Sunday morning was about her children’s books. She had been to see David Miliband who was “very good” and had particularly enjoyed hearing historian Helen Rappaport talk about ‘The Race to Save The Romanovs’ – the tragic story of what happened to the royal family in Russia after the 1917 revolution.

Before Chelsea Clinton’s talk about her children’s books – children from the Urdd Eisteddfod got a look in with a recorded video message about the Urdd.

Catrin James, who had come to Hay with Urdd Gobaith Cymru who organised the event, said she had never been to Hay Festival before because it was always the same week as the Urdd Eisteddfod. “Members of my family and friends have been before and said I should come but it’s always in the same week as the Urdd. Hopefully we’ll organise other events at Hay and I can come here again.”

Director of Hay Festival, Peter Florence, said: “This has been one of the most inspiring and encouraging festivals we have ever had. The energy and courage and optimism have been extraordinary. We have been graced with stories and ideas from around the world.”

One person who was less than happy on his way home was BBC presenter Gavin Esler, who took to Twitter to complain about a lack of seats on his train heading back to London from Newport. He posted a photo of a crowded train, with passengers standing in the carriage, and wrote: “On GWR cattle car from Newport to London – we have booked seats but the train is so crammed because of cancellation. Anyone from GWR care to explain why you are so c***?”

Other Twitter users replied to say three earlier trains had been cancelled.