I love the Charleston Festival. All of it. Well, I love the idea of it, to be honest I’m normally too busy in May scheduling shows and subediting reviews to get to much of it, which is rather irritating, because they’ve always got a brilliant programme of events going on.

Now, for those of you who don’t know what the Charleston Festival is (about three of you, possibly, because I’m sure everyone’s heard of it) it’s a series of literary focussed events taking place at Charleston, the former country home of the Bloomsbury Group artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, which became a focal point and retreat for artists, writers and intellectuals of the time. The house and gardens are open to the public, and hosts exhibits all year round, but at this time of year it’s all complemented by the aforementioned festival events.

As I say, every year I look enviously at the programme, and this year is no exception. Tony Benn (21 May, 6pm) will be there, talking about his fifty-one year long career in parliament and the latest instalment of his diaries, as will Salman Rushdie (23 May 6pm), who will be talking to Times literary editor Erica Wagner about his newest book. Also on the bill are Sam Taylor Wood and Patrick Marber (25 May 2.30pm), who’ll be speaking about short film, Love You More, directed by the former and scripted by the latter, and Guardian uber-critic Michael Billington and playwright Christopher Hampton (24 May, 8.30pm), who will be discussing the relationship between the performing arts and society at their State of the Nation event. There are also a number of workshops going on, one focussing on the attitudes of Virginia Woolf and her fellow Bloomsbury-ers towards the emerging artform of their era, film (21 May, 10am), another focussing on the life of Vita Sackville West (22 May, 10am).

Most tickets are about £10, but they also do all day tickets for four events which might just get you a saving. If you are there all day, there’s plenty to do between events, with the house and gardens to explore, a tea tent and bar, and a bookshop. Obviously, Charleston is not in central Brighton, in fact, it’s nearer Lewes, but don’t let that put you off. If you haven’t got a car, there’s a regular shuttle from Lewes station, more information on which can be found on the Charleston website. I can’t help thinking that if the weather is sunny, spending a day or two taking in this historic site and seeing a few events could prove to be positively idyllic. Wish I could go. Perhaps I will this year. Now, back to scheduling and subbing.