Ffabulous ffun and ffrivolity for Fforde ffans (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Ffabulous ffun and ffrivolity for Fforde ffans

THERE was an air of suspense hanging over the Lawn Woods last night as competitors fought to be crowned the World Superhoop champion.

But don't panic if you have never heard of Superhoop a variation of croquet before.

It is all part of this weekend's Fforde Ffestival.

The Ffestival has been organised by fans of the Jasper Fforde detective series featuring Thursday Next, which is set in Swindon.

It is the first fan convention and enthusiastic readers from around the globe have descended on the town to celebrate the author Jasper Fforde.

Thursday Next is a female detective whose job is to spot forgeries of Shakespeare's lost plays, mend holes in narrative plotlines and rescue characters who have been kidnapped from literary masterpieces.

The Swindon novels are The Eyre Affair, Lost In A Good Book, The Well Of Lost Plots and Something Rotten.

Today fans will be given an open top tour bus guide around some of the key locations mentioned in the novels.

The town is also being decorated by Swindon Council, Swindon Art College and other local businesses.

And Fforde fans may even spot some familiar faces from the novels lining the route of the tour.

There will also be a number of classic cars parked around the town.

The highlight of the festival will be an exclusive reading of a piece of work by Jasper written especially for the Ffestival.

There are a very limited number of tickets left for today's event.

Tickets cost £25 each and are available from the Tourist Office, in Regent Street, or by telephoning 01793 530328.