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In the first of three special Hay Diaries, 6 Music DJ Chris Hawkins reveals his love affair with the Hay Festival and shares his experiences this year - apparently it's not all literature, you might brush up against the odd sporting legend too.

My first ever visit to Hay in 2007 began bleakly - it rained heavily. A group of us stayed in the only holiday home available at short notice - a bleak house that accommodated six and on day one involved a grim drive through an apocalyptic storm to a place which seems to be claimed by both the English and Welsh. Though it tinkers on the border of the two, Hay On Wye, is in Powys, Wales, just north of the Black Mountains and is the National Book Town of Wales. I鈥檓 certain there are more book shops in the tiny town of Hay than remain in central London and each of them is fabulous, curious and unique. They burst with pride and although they are a year-round tourist attraction, they do best business during the .

During that 聽first visit to the festival, and thus the picturesque town, our gang (who had previously attended the V music festival together) arrived on site assuming we would collect wristbands and head straight for the bar. Lesson 1 about Hay was quickly learnt: you don鈥檛 pay for it. What you actually do, is pay for the events you want to attend and so with small change from 拢10, we found ourselves at an audience with Barry Cryer. Like most images of UK festivals, it was muddy under foot, the rain lashed on the canvas above but Cryer was magnificent and was just one of the star names on the bill again this year. I鈥檝e not missed a Hay since that first experience.

Lesson 2 was also learnt in year one - check the programme and book what you want to see as soon as possible. The festival takes place just outside the town centre in a field no bigger than a football pitch. There are tents of varying sizes (1,750 capacity for the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch) while niche events are more like a high powered village coffee morning discussing anything from alternative energy to the science of Star Wars.

As a 6 Music DJ and passionate music lover, the first event I plumped for this year was an afternoon鈥檚 conversation based on Philip Wallings book, Counting Sheep, a celebration of the pastoral heritage of Britain. Obviously. I now know there are 7 million sheep in Wales, that a fleece these days is worth 拢15 whereas in medieval times would have been worth the equivalent of 拢150 and that, according to Wallings, 鈥淪heep are not stupid but they are sheep and they do what sheep do and they are very good at it."

With a locally made ice cream in between, I went from sheep talk to a stellar line-up of footballers debating the world鈥檚 most high profile sport. I cannot believe I was there for this鈥� Geoff Hurst, Osvaldo Ardiles (pictured above), Ricardo Villa and Alan Smith. All in one tent. As a massive football fan this was an hour of heaven (Lesson 3 at Hay is to make the most of every session - few events are longer than an hour). Geoff Hurst is legendary for being the only man to score a hat trick in a World Cup Final (I鈥檓 pictured with him below). So how did he and the team celebrate their victory? Hurst revealed the evening was spent at Danny La Rue鈥檚 nightclub in London鈥檚 West End, saying, 鈥淚t was a Saturday night and I wasn鈥檛 sure if we鈥檇 get in.鈥� This, despite the fact that he had just won the World Cup. When asked if he secretly always hopes that England will get knocked out early, to keep his incredible record intact, he modestly replied: 鈥淣o. This year they will do well. Quarter Finals probably."

After 10 days of the festival, Hay shares one significant similarity with any other British festival. Mud. But with every event undercover and the promise of better weather, the leaden skies have done nothing to dampen the prospect of an exciting, inspiring and thought-provoking weekend which kicked off with the Radio 2 Chris Evans Breakfast Show coming live from the site with the final of this year's 500 WORDS this morning. And as well as Chris' show, audiences will be able to enjoy coverage across 成人论坛 TV, Radio, Online and globally with 成人论坛 World News.

is a DJ on 6 Music

• Chris Hawkins and Gideon Coe will be hosting a show live on from the 成人论坛 Tent at Hay on Sunday 1 June, 2.00-4.00pm
  
• Read more on the About the 成人论坛 Blog
• There's more from Hay at the聽聽including the winners of this years Competition as revealed during the this morning.聽