The Winchester Festival is gearing up for a busy 10 days. It opens on July 12, with a screen tribute to new president Dame Judi Dench in the afternoon and the traditional opening choral concert in the evening, which still has some good seats available.

Tickets for most events, including the Children's Concert, are selling fast.

"A Little Late Night Music" by Southern Voices in the Cathedral Quire has always sold out in previous years, and has only a few seats left. Felicity Lott's recital is two-thirds full, so her fans should lose no time in booking.

Most in demand is Humphrey Lyttelton, both for the finale with his band, and for his pre-concert talk. Douglas Hurd and Claire Tomalin had been vying for the literature top-spot, but Humph overtook them both last week. He has been in sparkling form in the present run of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue on Radio 4, which may explain the surge at the box office.

Artistic director John Miller said: "The booking pattern has been different this year and most encouraging. This time we have seen steady booking across the board. Every literary event will be in the big King Alfred Hall at the Guildhall for the first time, and we hope that the customary last-minute surge will sell out most of them."

Paddy Ashdown has been much pursued recently. Gordon Brown wanted to send him to Northern Ireland, and the UN wanted him to sort out the international co-ordination in Afghanistan as he did so successfully in Bosnia. But he turned down both those invitations so he won't be going to either destination but he will be coming to Winchester for the Festival.

Mr Miller said: "I watched all the comings and goings on television and wondered if we might lose him at the last minute but he rang me to confirm his travel plans for July 19. I had just finished his provocative new book, Swords and Ploughshares, and said how much I was looking forward to discussing it with him. He raises many challenging questions about how international peacekeeping should work, which grow more pertinent and urgent by the day."

Peter Sallis, who appears at the festival, was awarded the OBE for services to drama in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. Mr Miller said: "I rang Peter to congratulate him as soon as I read his name in the papers. He had very properly given me no hint that this honour was coming his way."

Peter Sallis will be discussing his memoir Fading into the Limelight with Mr Miller on Sunday, July 15, at 7.30pm in the Guildhall.

Ring 01962 857276 for tickets for all festival events.