{"id":8727,"date":"2025-05-31T10:27:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T10:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727"},"modified":"2025-06-01T16:20:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T16:20:47","slug":"the-final-countdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727","title":{"rendered":"The final countdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Less than a week to go, everybody.\u00a0<\/p>

But before our eagerly-anticipated writers arrive, let\u2019s take a breath and say a big thank you to all the many people who make Monty Lit Fest possible.<\/p>

The town of Montgomery is very much part of the Festival\u2019s story and its success. And, once again this year, it\u2019ll be abuzz with a whole host of events. Thank you, Celf Trefaldwyn, for curating this year\u2019s art and craft exhibition \u2013 now a Festival weekend staple \u2013 and for the new art workshop. Thanks, too, to Monty Folk and friends who will be playing music near the Town Hall in between our sessions with authors. There\u2019ll be street food as well as the hostelries and eateries of Montgomery, and – this is a literary festival after all – readings by Montgomery Creative Writing Group.\u00a0\u00a0 Montgomery doesn\u2019t just \u2018host\u2019 Monty Lit Fest; we\u2019re all part of the same community.<\/p>

No-one understood that better than Jill Kibble.\u00a0 Very sadly missed and impossible to forget, it has been an honour to name our new children\u2019s festival \u2013 Monty Mini Fest – after this dynamo of the town.\u00a0 It has also been a pleasure to bring her husband, Brett, onto the festival committee, and like all the volunteers there, he has put his shoulder firmly to the wheel.\u00a0 A special shout out, too, to Sharon Benton who joined the committee this year and has been instrumental in launching Mini Fest, and to award-winning Welsh publisher, Firefly Press, who have partnered with us to bring us our first Mini Fest authors.<\/p>

It takes many people to make a lit fest, and we also pay tribute to our organising committee \u2013 volunteers all \u2013and all the other volunteers who help make the weekend such a wonderful experience for our visitors and writers: our stewards, our \u2018box office\u2019 crew, our (world-famous) cake-makers, our clear-uppers, and Kay, who dresses the stage so brilliantly for us every year.\u00a0<\/p>

And a round of applause, too, for the local school staff, everyone at the Montgomery Activity Centre, the Town Hall – and the medical centre for helping out with parking.\u00a0 As the Festival slowly expands, so does the space we need, so we really couldn\u2019t do without you.<\/p>

But we also do need money!\u00a0 So could we have a standing ovation please for our sponsors and supporters, some new and some who have been with us for years:<\/p>

Booka\u00a0 Books, Oswestry; Bryn Uchel Holiday Park, Dyfi Valley; The Dragon Hotel, Montgomery; Luned and David Corser; EvaBuild; Field Mouse Research; Harrisons Solicitors, Welshpool; Literary Cat Books, Machynlleth; Menter Iaith Maldwyn; Montgomery Movie Club; Monty\u2019s Brewery, Montgomery; Ponthafren, Newtown; WPG Printers, Welshpool and\u00a0 Whitehall Dairy, Montgomery.\u00a0<\/p>

Thanks also to Literature Wales for their financial support and to the Aberystwyth University Centre for Creativity and Wellbeing for funding this year\u2019s writers\u2019 workshops.\u00a0 And to the journalists, broadcasters and feature editors who take a growing interest in Monty Lit Fest.<\/p>

We would be nothing, of course, without our authors and interviewers who give of their time so generously to share their stories.<\/p>

Nor everyone who has bought a ticket, will buy a ticket or who will just turn up over the weekend, regulars and first-timers alike.<\/p>

And, as the banners go up, there is one final diolch yn fawr<\/em> we\u2019re sneaking in here – to our local ticket sellers. In an age where we\u2019re urged to do everything online, isn\u2019t it great to be able to speak to Barry and Richard at the Bookshop or Denice at the Ivy House Cafe and talk about which world class writers are coming to the Festival.<\/p>

Tickets are<\/em> available online<\/a>, or in person with the wonderful people at The Montgomery Bookshop or Ivy House Caf\u00e9 in Montgomery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Less than a week to go, everybody.\u00a0 But before our eagerly-anticipated writers arrive, let\u2019s take a breath and say a big thank you to all the many people who make Monty Lit Fest possible. The town of Montgomery is very much part of the Festival\u2019s story and its success. And, once again this year, it\u2019ll …<\/p>\n

The final countdown<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[140],"tags":[195,92,91,194,61,62,93,24,126],"class_list":["post-8727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monty-lit-fest-2025","tag-art","tag-books","tag-cake","tag-community","tag-lit-fest","tag-montgomery","tag-montgomeryshire","tag-monty-lit-fest","tag-music"],"yoast_head":"\nThe final countdown - Monty Lit Fest - G\u0175yl Ll\u00ean Maldwyn, Montgomeryshire Literary Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Just one week to go to Monty Lit Fest 2025. So, we'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who makes the Festival possible.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The final countdown\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Just one week to go to Monty Lit Fest 2025. So, we'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who makes the Festival possible.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Monty Lit Fest - G\u0175yl Ll\u00ean Maldwyn, Montgomeryshire Literary Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/montylitfest\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-31T10:27:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-01T16:20:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Final-Countdown.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1264\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"505\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Clare Grist Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@montylitfest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@montylitfest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Clare Grist Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Clare Grist Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/729cdaf0ef43a4bd5fdd957262da5168\"},\"headline\":\"The final countdown\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-31T10:27:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-01T16:20:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727\"},\"wordCount\":637,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Final-Countdown.png\",\"keywords\":[\"art\",\"books\",\"cake\",\"community\",\"lit fest\",\"montgomery\",\"Montgomeryshire\",\"Monty Lit Fest\",\"music\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Monty Lit Fest 2025\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727\",\"name\":\"The final countdown - Monty Lit Fest - G\u0175yl Ll\u00ean Maldwyn, Montgomeryshire Literary Festival\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Final-Countdown.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-31T10:27:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-01T16:20:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"Just one week to go to Monty Lit Fest 2025. So, we'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who makes the Festival possible.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Final-Countdown.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Final-Countdown.png\",\"width\":1264,\"height\":505},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The final countdown\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/\",\"name\":\"Monty Lit Fest - G\u0175yl Ll\u00ean Maldwyn, Montgomeryshire Literary Festival\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Monty Lit Fest\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MLF-Logo-with-dates.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MLF-Logo-with-dates.jpg\",\"width\":1758,\"height\":770,\"caption\":\"Monty Lit Fest\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/montylitfest\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/montylitfest\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/montylitfest\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/729cdaf0ef43a4bd5fdd957262da5168\",\"name\":\"Clare Grist Taylor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a60e83215293da2396619790810095507f68b8d548ff7f49b422fd1c0fb76cbd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a60e83215293da2396619790810095507f68b8d548ff7f49b422fd1c0fb76cbd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Clare Grist Taylor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The final countdown - Monty Lit Fest - G\u0175yl Ll\u00ean Maldwyn, Montgomeryshire Literary Festival","description":"Just one week to go to Monty Lit Fest 2025. So, we'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who makes the Festival possible.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The final countdown","og_description":"Just one week to go to Monty Lit Fest 2025. So, we'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who makes the Festival possible.","og_url":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727","og_site_name":"Monty Lit Fest - G\u0175yl Ll\u00ean Maldwyn, Montgomeryshire Literary Festival","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/montylitfest\/","article_published_time":"2025-05-31T10:27:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-01T16:20:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1264,"height":505,"url":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Final-Countdown.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Clare Grist Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@montylitfest","twitter_site":"@montylitfest","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Clare Grist Taylor","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727"},"author":{"name":"Clare Grist Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/729cdaf0ef43a4bd5fdd957262da5168"},"headline":"The final countdown","datePublished":"2025-05-31T10:27:55+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-01T16:20:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727"},"wordCount":637,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Final-Countdown.png","keywords":["art","books","cake","community","lit fest","montgomery","Montgomeryshire","Monty Lit Fest","music"],"articleSection":["Monty Lit Fest 2025"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727","url":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727","name":"The final countdown - Monty Lit Fest - G\u0175yl Ll\u00ean Maldwyn, Montgomeryshire Literary Festival","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Final-Countdown.png","datePublished":"2025-05-31T10:27:55+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-01T16:20:47+00:00","description":"Just one week to go to Monty Lit Fest 2025. So, we'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who makes the Festival possible.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Final-Countdown.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Final-Countdown.png","width":1264,"height":505},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?p=8727#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The final countdown"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/","name":"Monty Lit Fest - G\u0175yl Ll\u00ean Maldwyn, Montgomeryshire Literary Festival","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#organization","name":"Monty Lit Fest","url":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MLF-Logo-with-dates.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/MLF-Logo-with-dates.jpg","width":1758,"height":770,"caption":"Monty Lit Fest"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/montylitfest\/","https:\/\/x.com\/montylitfest","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/montylitfest\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/729cdaf0ef43a4bd5fdd957262da5168","name":"Clare Grist Taylor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a60e83215293da2396619790810095507f68b8d548ff7f49b422fd1c0fb76cbd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a60e83215293da2396619790810095507f68b8d548ff7f49b422fd1c0fb76cbd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Clare Grist Taylor"},"url":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/?author=6"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/The-Final-Countdown.png","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8727"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8742,"href":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8727\/revisions\/8742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montylitfest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}