Military history festival doubles number of events

A military history festival has doubled the number of speakers and events after last year's debut, its founder has said.

There will be about 60 events at Hereford Military History Festival, with the main one - a panel discussion on the past, present and future of the area's SAS - already sold out, Christian Dangerfield said.

Other events include a panel featuring Maj Gen Sir Adrian Bradshaw, Tobias Ellwood and Dominic Cummings, who will "explore the critical issues facing the defence of the British realm", organisers said.

Venues, including the city's cathedral, St Peter's Church and Castle Green Pavilion, will host the festival between 25 and 27 September.

Dangerfield said: "We really wanted to avoid making this a sort of bland event where you just have people agreeing with each other.

"So we've tried to get sort of people who've got strong opinions. In a panel discussion or a debate... there might be some sparks flying, you never know."

The founder, who said he first started thinking about a festival in about 2017, said it would have a bigger and better line-up compared to 2025.

Following last year's initiative of 32 speakers, attended by about 3,500 people, he thought he had "proved the concept and there was a big appetite for it".

Confirmed speakers for the SAS discussions will include Dr Bob Parr, a 25-year veteran of the service and UK National Intelligence, and George Simm, who was with the SAS for 25 years.

Other internationally renowned writers and thinkers, including BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, Damien Lewis - who has written extensively about the SAS - Ruth Sherlock and Eleanor Anstruther will also be appearing.

Dangerfield said guests would "cover everything from history's greatest military commanders, through the pivotal role that castles played in medieval warfare; the anniversaries of the American War of Independence and the Spanish Civil War, to the spies of the Cold War and much more".

"Defence and security are back in a big way in the news," he said.

"Probably the threat levels from lots of different areas are higher than they probably have been at any time since the end of the Cold War, certainly maybe even since the end of the Second World War."

Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.