蜜芽传媒

I always look forward to this time of the year and without a doubt, the Cheltenham Literature Festival is my biggest “gig” of the year. It seems to come around so quickly as it doesn’t seem like 12 months ago that I was interviewing the likes of Alison Steadman, Jeremy Paxman and Ray Davies but here we are again, and my eight days at the Festival have just come to an end, so I thought I’d share my Festival diary with you and give you a few behind the scenes secrets.

The First Friday

My favourite day of the Festival is always the first Friday – it has a relaxed feel, despite being the first day of one of the most prestigious events of its kind in the world. I think it’s the calm before the storm as talks generally start around lunchtime and then as the day goes on Imperial Square and Montpellier Gardens swing into life.

Over the course of the ten days, thousands upon thousands of people will visit the Festival, yet whenever I see people walking around the town they seem very chilled out and by Friday night the atmosphere is buzzing. So on day one I got to find out about one of the first modern feminists with local author Rachel Holmes, I also discovered why birds sing and got to meet the legend that is Henry Winkler. Known to many as “The Fonz”.

He talked about his own experiences of having dyslexia and why he created a children’s character with his own learning challenges. I think what impressed me most was that he was so generous with him time, nothing was too much trouble and on Saturday morning when my colleague Liam and I bumped into him again, he came over and put his arms around our shoulders and asked how we were.

We also discovered that he’d invited a young girl who was in the book signing queue on Friday to come back on Saturday and interview him for a children’s newspaper.

Saturday

Our longest day at the Festival as we were on site by 8am to get ready for the first of six outside broadcasts from there.

Kate Clark presented her Saturday morning show live from the Writer’s Room on Montpellier Gardens from 9am until midday and I think the highlight of the show was hearing Kate talk to Michael Rosen who was one of the Guest Directors this year.

The weather wasn’t too kind to us on Saturday, after the glorious sunshine of Friday, it rained heavily all morning. Luckily we were well protected in the Writer’s Room. It was basically a large marquee with cream drapes all the way around, chandeliers hanging from the top and little lanterns dotted around the sides.

There were large red patterned rugs on the floor and the room was divided into two really, with tables and chairs for guests to eat or work at on one side and comfy white leather sofas and cubes on the other.There were also white dividers – behind one you’d find a book shelf and also our technical kit to make sure we got on air later in the week. On the first Saturday our colleagues from the 蜜芽传媒 News Channel used this was their base as it created a nice backdrop, while on Monday 蜜芽传媒 Radio 2 set up camp there.

Other highlights on Saturday included interviewing Charles Collingwood (Brian in the Archers) – my mother was very proud, and hearing the incredible story of survival from 蜜芽传媒 Security Correspondent Frank Gardner.

One of the most surreal moments of the Festival this year (and there were a few) was while I was interviewing broadcaster Emma Freud. She’d just been telling how much she was enjoying her first time at the Festival and over pops Richard Curtis, he wanted to ask a question about some tickets and said he hoped I didn’t mind him interrupting. I didn’t of course.

Sunday

With no live broadcasts Sunday had a nice relaxed feel about it. There were two highlights – interviewing actress Sarah Parish and retired Welsh international rugby player Gareth Thomas.

I’ve watched Sarah in so many brilliant roles over the years, so I was quite nervous about chatting to her, but I needn’t have worried as she was utterly delightful.

Then speaking to Gareth was also a treat as I’m a rugby fan, but I confess know him more for his appearance on ‘Dancing on Ice’. He was very honest and a pleasure to interview. As we posed for a photo he also complimented me on my perfume, which was unexpected, but very flattering.

Manic Monday

It was the start of five Afternoon Show outside broadcasts for Chris Baxter – something we’ve never done before at the Festival. In addition to our two hour show from 3pm to 5pm, 蜜芽传媒 Radio 2 were also in town for Simon Mayo’s show from 5pm – 7pm. Their set up is very impressive as they bring effectively an entire studio with them, plus lots of technical stuff and guests. They were in one corner while we were in the other.

There was a moment at 3pm where everything happened at once – the low clouds were causing our satellite dish a few problems, Chris had one guest waiting to speak to him, I had another interview to do, and another guest was still at the Town Hall. When our engineer Roger got out what looked like a large coat stand (as a back up form of broadcasting) I did begin to worry but all was right in the end, we got on air, found our guests and did our interviews.

Meeting David Nicholls was one of my Festival highlights as I’d read “One Day” in about 10 days a couple of years ago, and it remains one of my favourite books.

The day ended with an interview with three of the Gloucester Rugby players, who were there to talk about preparations for the Rugby World Cup next year.

Tuesday

The one misconception I think some people have about the Festival is that it’s all about big names. Of course they are a huge draw, but if you look through the programme I think you’d find there’s pretty much something for everyone.

It was great this year to record some interviews about subjects and themes rather than just about a person. So I discovered that maps are brilliant for telling stories, and don’t just get us from A to B.

Wednesday

You will see people from all ages, all backgrounds and all walks of life there. I came across another brilliant story this year – Radio 4 presenter James Walton was at the Festival hosting a special book quiz on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday I discovered he met his now wife at the Festival more than 10 years ago, when he was taking part and she was a volunteer.I encouraged them to come back to Cheltenham for their 20th wedding anniversary.

The volunteers, who this year you may have seen in turquoise T-Shirts, do a brilliant job – from keeping the Writer’s Room tidy, to being front of house at events, working in the box office and driving guests to and from places like the train station.

Also on Wednesday we had a terrific thunder storm during Chris Baxter’s show – I think we all had a few worried looks in the Writer’s Room, but all was ok. Alice Roberts took shelter from the rain and had a chat with Chris and after his show Chris spoke to the brilliant Brian Blessed. The next surreal moment of the Festival came when Brian asked me to sing some opera. I politely declined.

Thursday

Thursday will henceforth be known as the “Day we chased Alan Titchmarsh around Cheltenham”.

We had an interview arranged with Alan for around 11am, but when he arrived he was whisked off to a photo call at the Imperial Gardens site as an RHS Malvern garden, themed around literature, had been installed as part of the Festival. It’s called “A Brave New World of Beauty”.

We were told to follow Alan to the photo so we followed him back to the Writer’s Room. By the time we’d walked back there was just enough time for more photos and for Alan to have a sandwich before heading off to his event.

Luckily, when we returned a bit later he was free for chat and he gave budding gardeners a tip – “be patient”.

Friday, my final day

After my final chat with Steve Kitchen in the Drivetime Show, I went off to find my final couple of interviews. I enjoyed a chat with author Victoria Hislop – we talked about the “invisible audience” which you’re writing for, as normally you don’t meet your readers. We agreed that it’s much like working in radio.

My final interview of the day was with Natalie Young who written a book in the “domestic chillers” genre.

After some late night editing it was time to head home. I’ll be back at the Festival on Sunday to see Dame Judi Dench speak – I’m still hoping I might grab a few minutes of her time for an interview – that really would be the icing on the cake.