1972:

At the Great Western Express Music Festival in Bardney, Lincolnshire, 16 year old Annette Woods abandons her sisterly responsibilities in favour of a tryst with Justin, an up-and-coming folk musician.

Meanwhile 13 year old Janie has a public meltdown, unwittingly instigating a racially-motivated attack on her new friends by the on-duty constabulary.

The injustice inspires Justin there and then to change his career path from music to politics.

Fast forward more than forty years.

Annette and Janie are called home to Lincolnshire to look after their sick mother. There they unearth childhood resentments but also prove the indelibility of their bond, when Annette makes a reckless choice that turns out to be the best thing for both sisters.

For Justin Citizen, too.

Now the Leader of the Opposition, his recurring dreams of an island of sanctuary are propelled into action when a provocative news headline prompts him to make a momentous decision of his own. That same headline is the catalyst that finally brings him back together with Annette, the girl at the festival who he has never forgotten.

Festival in Time explores how home can turn out to be something different than what we imagined, how family is not always put together traditionally, and how politics can be pursued in ways other than on the Party tour bus.

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– J.L. Dixon @johns_bookshelf