The Best Literary Festival so far.. !

The 2012 Cheltenham Literary Festival has definitely been the best so far! I've had lunch with my mate Kevin and Barry Cryer at the Daffodil, laughed with my sister and Pam Ayres in the town hall, travelled to Brazil with Michael Palin at the racecourse, rode to victory with Fi and Rob in the company of Claire Balding and Frankie Dettori, discovered how to grow all kinds of exotic delicacies with my mother and the highly active James Wong, debated the colourful world of street art with Terry in the absence of the infamous Banksy, swooned as a family over the gorgeous Ben Fogul, hooted with laughter with Paul O'Grady and dined like a king with my lovely mum, lickle sib and the Baker Bros in the Speigaltent!

I have attended so many events this year and invited some of my wonderful family and friends to join me. We've had a BLAST!

My last experience at the Daffodil was okay but I wasn't rushing back. So I was secretly not expecting Sunday lunch to be anything special. In fact it was a triumph! The starter of frothy mushroom soup served in a tiny china teacup, the deliciously tender beef roast followed by the 'piece de resistance', a tantalising mixture of caramel popcorn, peanut brittle, chocolate truffle squares, caramel sauce and panna cotta, mmm... made this an outstanding meal which was a great start to my literary week.

Michael Palin is always a pleasure to watch and his hour long talk about his new series and book, Brazil, didn't disappoint. He was entertaining, engaging and he has a voice that would melt butter.. mmm, and me...

The whole pleasure of coming to the festival is to experience the good, the bad and the Top Totty.. ! Ben Fogul is as good looking as he sounds. His talk was enlightening, wonderfully honest and he has enviable diction which is very endearing and isn't afraid to reveal his weaknesses. His talk was thoroughly entertaining and in my book, he is a 21st century 007! Loved the blue trousers too.. !

Wouldn't you just love to know as much about the equine world as Claire Balding and Frankie Dettori?! This was without doubt, a great evening of fun and laughter. They talked equally and frankly about their lives in the sports arena and captivated the audience with their wit and knowledge. I'm sure Frankie's life appears charmed but his description of how he achieves what he does as a jockey had the entire room in awe of him. Claire is a proficient host, commentator and sports personality who performed her duties as a interviewer with the right balance of ebb and flow of questions and interjections. All in all, a thoroughly fabulous evening. Fi and Rob also enjoyed the evening and we finished it off with a beautiful meal at Flynns.. 

What can I say, here is the wonderful Pam Ayres photographed in the Waterstones tent with my lickle sib Marie, who is our family version of this talented poet. Pam Ayres can certainly hold her own for a whole hour with her ditties, her stories and her infectious wit. The audience, not surprisingly, loved her and delighted in every bit of humour she conjured up during her short hour at the festival. Look at that smile! It's the face behind so many smiles around the country and I'm so glad we were there to meet her.