A TEMPORARY 400 seater venue is to be erected in Hay-on-Wye for the annual Hay Festival Winter Weekend.
This November will mark the 18th year the team behind the Hay Literature Festival has staged its smaller scale November event.
The programme won’t be announced until mid October but festival bosses have revealed this year’s event will start a day earlier, on Thursday, November 23 as well as a temporary structure to be erected in the town centre.
Running through to Sunday, November 26 the event, which promises to highlighting the world’s best new fiction, non-fiction and poetry, will coincide with the Hay Christmas lights switch on, a food festival and the Hay Does Vintage outdoor flea market.
The temporary venue will also double the festival’s seated capacity and the weekend is funded by a Welsh Government tourism fund.
Hay Festival director Peter Florence, said: "Hay Festival Winter Weekend is a chance to experience Hay as never before. There will be great writers, inspiring thinkers, and a thrilling bazaar of local crafts, foods and curiosities, wrapped in festive lights and glistening with winter cheer."
Clare Fry, chair of Hay and District Chamber of Commerce, said: "A number of spring and summer visitors to Hay ask what we do in the winter, presumably thinking we batten down the hatches, light the fire and close our doors. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Hay is the market town that never sleeps and especially not at Christmas. This magical little place is extremely fortunate to have a seasonal cultural/literary explosion from Hay Festival not forgetting the festive markets and events encompassing the best of our local growers, producers, retailers, artists and more."