Hay Festival Segovia – September 22

After a full-on day of madness of Madrid, jostling for space on Line 10 with sweaty, work-weary commuters (“I’m sorry, I saw that space next to the fire-hydrant well before you, Señor”) as soon as you step on to the ancient city’s Plaza Mayor, an inner peace descends and the battle-scars of the day’s commute just melt into the peaceful tranquillity that radiates from this beautiful old city.

I’m here with photographer extraordinaire, Alberto Roldán, to capture what a Hay festival looks like when it’s been prised away from the bosom of Wye. And Wye not? (you can stop those puns right now – Editor, TeachingEnglish). This is the festival’s fifth year in Segovia, in a year where the British Council have become global partners for Hay. It is also part of the British Council’s Spain 70 anniversary celebrations.

Alberto and I are going for a three-hour stroll around the city in the company of the Mayor, Hay Segovia’s Director and a gaggle of press folks (Is that the correct collective noun for the media? I can think of a few others . . .)

The idea is to see visit all the arts installations on offer in Hay Segovia 2010.

We arrive at the meeting point on the dot but Alberto tells me knowingly that it will never kick off on time – “you know what we Spanish are like”. I’d just finished talking to fellow TeachingEnglish blogger Fitch, who tells me he drove 5 hours from Oporto to get here (genius or madness?), when I notice an eerie calm has set in around the square. Blow me if the tour hasn’t set off bang on time (so much for Spanish lack of punctuality) and I see Alberto haring off after group. I switch into Usain Bolt mode and try to catch up. So much for a stroll – the pace is astonishing, although admittedly we are going down the steep main road, gravity assisted.

First stop is the chapel of the Estaban Vicente museum for a taste of Besos (Kisses), a lip-smacking exhibition that captures the art of getting close to someone, assembled from the photo-archives of Spanish press-agency, EFE. The whole thing is set to Brotherhood Of Man’s Euro-tastic chart-topper “Save Your Kisses for me” and the exhibition is decidedly tongue-in-cheek, although in most of the photos, you have to say the tongue is almost everywhere but in the cheek . . . My favourite image is Spain’s Queen Sofia getting a smacker from an elephant.

I’m just thinking about watching the whole thing again when I see the group has shot off again, next stop Sustener La Mirada (Hold The Look) by photo-journalist Ricardo Martin. Tell you more in part two, coming shortly. In the meantime, Spanish speakers can find out more about Hay Festival Segovia on the British Council Spain website and on our Facebook page British Council España

David Blundell – September 22, 2010