ILKLEY was buzzing at the first weekend of the Literature Festival, with its audiences swelling the crowds of visitors attracted by the glorious sunshine.

John Suchet was a brave choice for the opening event, presenting his new book, The Last Waltz, about the Strauss family and Vienna. The fact that Kings Hall was only half full bears out the impression that classical music is for the élite and lacks general appeal. But Johann Strauss the younger was hugely popular in his day – and still is, if packed New Year’s Day concerts all over Europe are anything to go by. Strauss was a serious musician, with a gift nurtured by his mother, and drew admiration from the deeply serious Brahms (who even expressed regret that he had not written the Blue Danube waltz). John Suchet’s presentation was fascinating, bringing the Strauss family and Viennese society vividly to life. He also spoke about his own career, first as journalist and ITN presenter, where Beethoven on a Walkman kept him sane in tight spots such as a midnight ferry to Beirut. His second career, as a presenter for Classic FM, was almost an accident. Hired as a stand-in for Simon Bates, he was offered the job when Bates left suddenly. So he is now doing valuable work on a station designed to reach out and for a corporation actively targeting children. Its ten pieces for teenagers follows on from last year’s ten pieces initiative for primary schools. Full marks to the LitFest for giving Suchet a voice.

Gyles Brandreth, who might be perceived as the ultimate élitist toff, packed Kings Hall on Saturday. This was not surprising, given his many radio and TV appearances and his consummate professionalism. He was presenting Word Play, a tribute to the English language, the richest in Europe, largely thanks to its openness to borrowing from others. Moving the “coffin” – a small table with a tasteful flower arrangement – to the back, he strode about the stage and delivered a carefully honed 45 minutes flat of wit and wisdom. The perils of texting and auto-correction, along with take-offs of Ralph Richardson and the Donalds Wolfit and Sinden made for a richly entertaining mix. The audience willingly joined in with exercises on diction and comprehension and was bamboozled (lovely word) into ridicule along the way. Question time was equally fun; ask a question at the peril of having it turned back on you is the Brandreth style. We had a taste of that at the beginning, when he remarked on Festival board member Simon Ashberry’s casual attire. “Dressing down tonight? Jeremy Corbyn’s cast-offs??” Behind it all, though, was the very serious point that words last for ever. Those of Shakespeare, Elizabeth I and Churchill still resonate down the ages.

John Suchet’s diction was impeccable also, as was Patricia Duncker’s on Saturday afternoon at the Playhouse. That event began with the results of the Festival short story competition, judged by Duncker, with readings by some of the winners. Bernadette Hughes won first prize, with A Different Place, and she and two other finalists gave notable readings. Patricia Duncker was presenting Sophie and the Sybil, a tale of romantic obsession and hero-worship revolving around the character of George Eliot. A multi-layered work of great complexity, the novel was seven years in the writing. Duncker manages to evoke the utter seductiveness of this “horse-faced blue-stocking”, with a formidable culture and brain, who was a true celebrity of her time.

At the Playhouse again on Saturday was an intriguing encounter with Rosamund Lupton, presenting The Quality of Silence. Set in Alaska, this is a thriller based on a journey undertaken by a mother and her profoundly deaf teenage daughter. Again there are many layers here: the issue of communication – should the girl be encouraged to speak when she has other means of expression? How do you weigh a mother’s courage on this journey against the risks she takes with her daughter’s life? How do you make a plea for environmental preservation without writing a polemic? All these were addressed in the course of conversation with an insightful and lucid James Nash, whose diction too is exemplary.

The eminent historian Max Hastings addressed another full house at Kings Hall on Sunday. His latest book, The Secret War, tells of the staggering scale of espionage and intelligence work carried on behind the scenes during the Second World War. He focussed on the organisations and individuals less well known, pointing out in answer to a question that the SOE, for example, had been amply covered elsewhere. And he chose a global context, resulting in a superbly researched account of the often incredible performance of many agents. Code-breakers transformed espionage, but arguably the use of radio was the single most effective weapon in the conflict. Hastings took a swipe at The Imitation Game – the Alan Turing story – “a silly film” with Charles Dance’s character a travesty of the original. But he paid tribute to Turing, cruelly sacrificed to the “morals” of his time.

Another full house greeted Simon Armitage on Sunday evening, presenting Walking Away, his journey around the south-west coastal path from Minehead to Land’s End. Perennially entertaining and self-deprecating, he recounted his travels and his encounters with the many good people he met along the way and his experiences of taking poetry to them. Diction was a problem here; the interviewer – whose name I failed to catch – spoke far too fast. However, Armitage’s deliberate delivery generally made pretty clear what the questions had been. All in all, an entertaining and thought-provoking first weekend.

Ilkley Festival director Rachel Feldberg said: "After a brilliant opening weekend that included everything from paper making to punctuation, we're looking forward to the rest of the Festival.

"Coming up we have events with comedians Jenny Eclair and Dom Joly, as well a wide range of authors, poets and writers including Ian McMillan, Jane Smiley, Misha Glenny and Caryl Phillips, not to mention our Bake Off event which will include some tasty goodies from Bettys as well as 2013 winner Frances Quinn and popular contestant Howard Middleton.

"It’s worth revisiting the our website as tickets are still available for many events, including lots for children and families over the weekend.”

Visit: www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk for more information.

by Judith Dunn