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Judi Dench talking Shakespeare, conversations with bestsellers Marian Keyes and David Nicholls, and a deep dive into the day’s news with Independent journalists and leading thinkers – this year’s Hay Festival programme is fit to burst with unmissable events. Jessie Thompson picks the highlights
Leading figures from politics, science, the arts and comedy will speak to ‘The Independent’ at annual cultural event
Bristol24/7 sets out a bumper crop of don’t miss diary dates for festival season
"A rare Davy Crockett letter that perfectly illustrates the honesty and the fire which made him a folk hero," Bonhams noted.
From Angels Fall First to Human. :||: Nature., we rank symphonic metal icons Nightwish’s most epic compositions… Words: Sam Law Symphonic metal existed before Nightwish – pioneered by outfits like Sweden’s Therion and Italy’s Rhapsody – but no band has made it bigger, better or more bombastic than the great Finnish collective. When keyboardist and bandleader Tuomas Holopainen first envisioned the band while sitting around a campfire with friends, the idea was that it’d be a vehicle for the experimental acoustic music he’d written during time in the Finnish army, perfect fo...