Hay Festival essentials

The 2017 Hay Festival (01497 822629; www.hayfestival.com) runs from May 25 until June 4. Tickets are on sale now to Festival Friends and are available to the general public from April 7. Where to stay

Accommodation gets booked up months ahead for the Hay Festival. See visithay.co.uk for details of the bed finder service, which provides information on available accommodation, including rooms in the many local homes that open to guests during the festival period. It costs £15 per booking, plus accommodation costs.

Staff at Hay-on-Wye Tourist Information Centre (01497 820144; www.hay-onwye.co.uk) are also very helpful and their website lists a wide range of local accommodation options.

Brecon Beacons Holiday Cottages (01874 676446; www.breconcottages.com) has a good choice of self-catering properties in the area, and staff can advise on distances from Hay and travel time.

Hoseasons Country Cottages (0844 847 1356; www.hoseasons.co.uk/cottages) also has some availability among its mid-Wales collection and Sheepskin (sheepskinlife.com) has a handful of luxury self-catering cottages in the Brecon Beacons.

Details of other self-catering properties in the area are on www.breconbeaconstourism.co.uk.

Wye Meadow Camping (01291 629379; www.peak-performance-consultancy.com/haycamping) is a wellrun site close to the festival grounds with pitches for tents, caravans and campervans. A standard plot is £15 a night or £105 for the whole festival. Eating in and around Hay Where to eat

Eat and drink at The Three Tuns (threetuns.com); (01497 821855; The Stagg (01544 230221, thestagg.co.uk); Shepherds Ice Cream (www.shepherdsicecream.co.uk); Llanthony Priory (01873 890487, llanthonyprioryhotel.co.uk; The Tram in Eardisley (01544 327251, thetraminn.co.uk). The Old Electric Shop (oldelectric.co.uk) Tomatitos Tapas Bar (haytomatitos.co.uk) The Blue Boar (01497 820884) Kilverts Inn (www.kilverts.co.uk) In and around Hay What to do

Visit Richard Booth’s Bookshop (01497 820322); Canoe with Wye Valley Canoes and River Cafè (01497 847213; www.wyevalleycanoes.co.uk) — from £25 per person for the Glasbury-to-Hay trip; or Black Mountain Canoes (01497 847897; www.blackmountain.co.uk) — from £20 per person for half a day.

Walk in the Black Mountains. Half an hour’s drive from Hay, leave a car in the car park below the end of the Cat’s Back and walk along the road to the northern end of the Olchon valley. Continue up a track until you reach the plateau, then turn right (south) along the track, following the ridge as it narrows, admiring the view to the south and east. This is a moderately strenuous hike.