In just over a week the third annual Laugharne Weekend Festival will be celebrating Welsh literature as well as bringing cult writers, outlaw voices and fellow travelling musicians to the Carmarthenshire town.

Tickets for many of the events – running from Friday, April 3rd to Sunday, April 5th – are still available, if limited. As always there promises to be an unusual and exciting mix of performing talent and lively interaction with the audience in a town which mixes a fantastic literary heritage with beautiful scenery and a strong local community.

It is impossible to pick highlights from the huge line-up, but some of the most interesting and rare treats will include: Louis de Bernieres: The acclaimed author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin will be reading from some of his works as well as playing the flute, mandolin, guitar and clarinet, or at least one of those instruments, with the Antonius Players.

Keith Allen: The Llanelli-born actor will premiere his spoken word album.

Howard Marks and Rhys Ifans: Kenfig Hill’s Mr Nice has written two best-selling books about drug smuggling and his life afterwards. He will be in conversation with Rhys Ifans who will be playing the part of Howard in a forthcoming film.

Shirley Collins: One of the great British folk vocalists, and a significant contributor to the folk revival of the fifties and sixties will be performing.

British and Irish Lions: To coincide with this year’s Lions tour of South Africa, four former players will talk about their experiences as Lions tourists.

Ray Davies: The Kinks’ frontman and songwriter will be performing a rare spoken word show at Laugharne, based on his book X-Ray.

Alexei Sayle: The comedian, actor, presenter and writer will be adding his mix of wit and observation to the weekend.

Also on the Laugharne bill are: Irvine Welsh, A.L. Kennedy, Mark Steel, Jon Ronson, Stuart Maconie, Luke Haines, Great Trainrobber Bruce Reynolds and Alasdair Roberts, among others.

This year, there will also be concerts every afternoon in Laugharne Castle featuring Welsh acts such as Cate LeBon, Richard James, Radio Luxembourg, Jon Langford and Stuart Moxham and Johnny.

All the venues are intimate and range from a capacity of 24 in Dylan Thomas’ Boathouse to 200 people at the Millennium Hall and 300 in Laugharne Castle (subject to licence). Weekend tickets are available, priced at £65.00 but these will be limited in numbers. Tickets will also be available for individual performances, priced between £5 and £15. All tickets will be available in advance from ticketweb.co.uk.

Individual show tickets (not weekend tickets) will be on sale from The New Three Mariners, in Laugharne, Borders, in Swansea and Spillers, in Cardiff.

Further details can be found on the festival website: thelaugharneweekend.com.