TWO happenings in the life of Carole Swingler have made the last few weeks a time of celebration.

They are the birth of a first grandchild and a record early rush for tickets for what promises to be a bumper Bewdley Festival in October.

The two events mean visits to new mum - daughter Sophie in London - whenever possible and a great deal of time organising publicity for the arts festival.

Both are extremely pleasurable, except perhaps for phone calls dealing with somebody's disappointment at no tickets being left for a favourite show.

It is the 13th festival and Carole and husband Jos were there almost from the beginning.

Jos, as a chartered accountant and Carole's second husband, was snapped up for the post of treasurer a year after they were married. She says she "followed on his coat tails".

A former schoolteacher, she does not see herself having "showbiz" lineage though Sophie is a wardrobe stylist and wife of high profile TV director Nick Murphy and she loves theatre.

The festival was well starred right from the start when one of the festival founders Jock Gallagher, who lived in Bewdley and was a TV producer, drew on wide contacts in the world of media and entertainment to feed the early programmes.

"Our only difficulty is we do not have a big venue," she said. "But in a way it has been an advantage to distribute events in pubs, clubs and schools. It gets more people involved.

Performers have also told her they like the intimacy that brings them close to their audiences.

Carole describes how actress Sylvia Syms identified so closely with the town after her visit she rang during the 1998 floods to ask if there was anything she could do.

Carole remembers many stars with affection and often with great humour. She and Jos often host visiting stars, taking them out for supper or even putting them up for the night in their large country home in Habberley Road.

Kate Adie was a favourite. "We took her to a Chinese. It was fascinating how the tough reporter on stage had us nearly in tears afterwards telling us about her adoption and how she found her real mother."

Then there was the feminist folk singer Julie Felix - "Utterly charming, but we had to talk about rape over breakfast!"

And there was the minor stir created by the overnight stay of Jackie the transvestite of TV's Paddington Green, also "a charming guest."

It is not all fun, however. There have been tough times worrying whether enough tickets will be sold to pay for the entertainer an hour before the show."

Hobbies? "When I retired I thought I could spend all day reading. It hasn't turned out that way."

But she still finds time for her beloved garden and converting into a pram cover a sweater she never manage to finish knitting a few years ago.