Hay Fever is a really lovely thing to do

To mark its fifth birthday and ever-increasing popularity and scope, a fun-packed programme has been put together, with plenty of excitement for children from local nursery, primary and secondary schools as well as for those who visit Hay-on-Wye during their half-term break.

As part of the festival's outreach and educational work, two schools, Hay Primary and Clyro Primary, will be seeing the finished results of their project, A Sense of Place, on the big screen at the festival cinema at tonight's (Thursday's) opening of Hay Fever.

"It's a delightful short-film project, funded by the Festival's education charity," explains Hay Fever director Ruth Hay. "It's all about reading poetry and looking at the visual imagery in the environment."

Local poet Francesca Kay has spent time with the children and the filming of their work has been supported by Media Education Wales.

Another local element is brought to the festival with Clifford School's involvement, through the Federation of Children's Books Groups, in the Red House Children's Book Awards judging.

"The reading group at Clifford School have been reading and voting on the books and two of the children and two teachers will be attending the awards," says Ruth.

Hay Fever 2007 seems certain to follow the trend of the past four years in seeing another year-on-year increase in ticket sales.

"Hay Fever is a really lovely thing to do," says Ruth. "It's hard because we have to find something to appeal to all ages, which means we are scheduling four things for four different age groups at any one time.

"We want to encourage the great thinkers of tomorrow, to have them come and enjoy the festival, not to be intimidated by books."

Several events on the programme this year are especially close to Ruth's heart.

"I'm really excited about the Little Angel Theatre Company's puppet show for under-fives. Thanks to Western Power Distribution subsidising some performances, we have been able to offer local nurseries and pre-schools tickets for just £2 per child with accompanying adults going free.

"Another key thing is that the Children's Zone has been growing over the last few years and the Book People have made it much more funky. Every day there are at least four free activities, from pot-painting to puppet making and storytelling."

Among those featured in the Children's Zone is Caroline Downey, dragon maker and author of Black Mountain Sheep, whose book will be read to an audience by a local farmer.

Ruth Hay is also looking forward to Urban Strides on Thursday, May 31.

"They'll provide a bit of fun - absolutely kicking," is her verdict.

It's not just the children who come to the festival who get something out of it, explains Ruth.

"One of the nice things is that we don't insist parents come, but those who do can learn a lot through what an author is saying about their work about their kids."

Among the authors appearing in the course of a packed week are the hugely popular Anthony Horowitz, author of the Alex Rider books making his first Hay appearance, Louise Rennison, beloved of teenage girls, Cathy Cassidy, Malorie Blackman, the hysterically funny Jeremy Strong, Michael Morpurgo, children's laureate from 2003-2005, Geraldine McCaughrean, Anne Fine and Quentin Blake.

Hay Fever runs from today (Thursday) until Sunday, June 3. For more details and to book tickets, visit www.hayfestival.com