THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The renowned 'Hay Festival,' the annual get-together of literary figures, authors and thinkers, would be held here for three days from Friday.
About 50 authors, thinkers and performers from the country and across the world would participate in the festival, meant to celebrate writings from Kerala, India and around the world in the most sumptous surroundings, Lyndy Cooke, excecutive director of the event told PTI.
Former Union Minister and writer Shashi Tharoor MP, representing the city, was instrumental in bringing the festival to Thiruvananthapuram.
'The Week' magazine is hosting the event as the main sponsor as part of the DC Books International Book Fair here.
"This is the first time the festival is being conducted in India," she said.
Maldives had hosted the Hay festival in Asia earlier, she said.
Guests invited for the festival include Mani Shankar Aiyar, Rosie Boycott, Bama Faustina, Bob Geldof, Namita Gokhale, Nik Gowing, Manu Joseph, Vivek Narayanan and K Satchidanandan, she said.
The event calendar includes intellectual and cultural programmes including musical concerts at the Kanakakkunnu palace here.
For more than 20 years, Hay Festival has brought writers, musicians, film-makers and sceintists together to cross cultural and social barriers and foster exchange of ideas.
In the last ten years, the event has become a global non-profit charity that runs projects and festivals worldwide including Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Nairobi, Maldives and Beirut. Hay festival was awarded the Queen's award for International trade in 2009.