The Festival with Louise Mumford

Submitted: 7th August 2024

The Festival with Louise Mumford

Not every day you get invited to a festival with an author!

Not sure it’s wise, it’s going to be a bit of a risky business I imagine. A crime author too – that Louise Mumford. I’m still reeling from my invitation to that hotel to be honest. Barely got out alive – it was FAB!

But, she thought a festival would help chill me out after the hotel…..So, I agreed. Do you want to come with us?

Locations in The Festival

Louise Mumford

Locations in The Festival

Location, location, location. Settings and places have always been important to me as a writer, in fact, my inspiration for many of my books often comes from a location I’ve seen which has sparked the story in my mind. Who would live there? What kind of person are they? How best can I use that place to help the twists, turns and shocks in my thrillers?

Locations in The Festival

In my new thriller The Festival which is out on the 1st August I use three main locations which are inspired by three real-life places both in Wales, where the book is set, and beyond.

Caerphilly Castle and Tower

Locations in The Festival

Ah, my hometown – Caerphilly. This town is famous for its huge castle with its very own Leaning Tower (even wonkier than that of Pisa) which is probably the castle’s best-loved feature. Then there’s the famous Caerphilly Cheese which inspired the town’s Big Cheese Festival. It isn’t, however, the cheese or the castle that were the reason why I chose the town as inspiration for the place where my main character called Libby works.

Caerphilly Library

Locations in The Festival

No, the inspiration was Caerphilly Library. Not the grand new one Caerphilly currently has, positioned in a prime location, no the previous one, the one I used to go to as a child with my mother. I think we’re all familiar with public buildings like those from the seventies – squat, blocky, uninspired architecture and inside a poorly insulated space with scratchy carpet tiles and peeling paint. But as a child you don’t really care about those things because that library was magic, a gateway to all sorts of literary worlds. For Libby the library is a refuge as she works out what she wants to do with her life.

Locations in The Festival

Crickhowell

Green Man Festival and Glastonbury Festival

My main character Libby wins tickets to a huge outdoor British music festival and this is the place where she spends much of the story. My festival in the book is an imaginary one called Solstice, a celebration of the longest day with music, camping and various entertainment in a section known as Wyrd Wood. The inspiration for this festival lies squarely between the Green Man festival near Crickhowell in Wales and, of course, the behemoth that is Glastonbury. These are the perfect locations for a thriller – you have the packed and unpredictable crowds, easy to get lost in, the even more unpredictable weather and also the other spaces away from the music where there are weirder goings-on like acrobats and art installations. My sunny festival has a very dark side…

Locations in The Festival

Avebury

In The Festival the Blake family own the farmland where the event is. There is a small stone circle near the farmhouse. I have always loved these circles and the stories that cling to them.

My inspiration here was definitely Avebury stone circle and henge. The henge – a huge circular bank and ditch – is so vast it actually includes part of Avebury village!

Locations in The Festival

Also within the henge is the largest stone circle in Britain and, sitting inside that, are two smaller circles. It is part of an extraordinary prehistoric landscape with a number of other monuments close by, including the mysterious Silbury Hill. It has its roots in the UK’s ritual landscape, places that were seen as important by our ancestors, though many of the stones were re-erected in the 1930s. In my book the stones are thought to be witches who escaped death and the place has a certain magic attached to it, perfect for a part of the festival called Sanctum, a mysterious event where only a lucky few are invited and most of them make it out alive…