Hay festival in the rain

Keeping calm and carrying on: a downpour can't stop a picnic at the Hay festival Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA Photograph: Ben Birchall/guardian.co.uk Wellington boots and brollies are the order of the day as the heavens open and rain falls on Hay Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA Photograph: Ben Birchall/guardian.co.uk A woman reads while she waits at a Hay festival bus stop that has been converted into a bookshop using plastic flower garlands and artificial turf Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA Photograph: Ben Birchall/guardian.co.uk It's perfect weather for browsing in Hay's bookshops Photograph: Felix Clay Photograph: guardian.co.uk Hay festival-goers take refuge from the rain inside one of the town's famous secondhand bookshops Photograph: Felix Clay Photograph: guardian.co.uk Striding out on Hay high street Photograph: Felix Clay/guardian.co.uk Waiting for the Hay festival shuttle bus Photograph: Felix Clay/guardian.co.uk A Hay festival-goer ponders her next move Photograph: Martin Argles/guardian.co.uk The Hay Cinema bookshop under an ominous cloud Photograph: Felix Clay/guardian.co.uk Local businesses in Hay enjoy the surge of visitors the festival brings Photograph: Felix Clay/guardian.co.uk A flash of colour in the gloom of the first day of the Hay festival Photograph: Felix Clay/guardian.co.uk It's a short walk from the famous bookshops of Hay town to the Hay festival site Photograph: Martin Argles/guardian.co.uk Acrobatic readers: one of the many unusual sights around the Hay festival site Photograph: Martin Argles/guardian.co.uk