To encourage these exchanges, this year the Festival programmers have created a substantial series of panel events to get the intellectual juices flowing.

The topics range from the future of aging to whether the UK will ever follow the US’s example and elect a black leader. Two special debates, organised by The Oxford Times, concern matters that directly affect the people of Oxfordshire, form part of the programme.

On Tuesday, March 31, The Oxford Times’ First Annual Debate on The Future of Oxford as a World-class City will be staged in the Newman Rooms.

Oxford’s landscape, architecture and buildings, its academic heritage, status as an international publishing centre, and the enduring influence of its artists, writers and thinkers have all contributed to it being a ‘world-class’ city.

But does it meet the expectations of welltravelled visitors when they arrive at the railway station or when they see burger vans parked in front of great historic buildings?

Do all communities engage with Oxford and see it as their own community? What makes a ‘World-class’ City, and will Oxford deserve such an accolade in the future?

Clive Aslet, editor of Country Life and author of The English House, Deborah Dance, director of the Oxford Preservation Trust, and Justin Cartwright, Booker shortlisted writer and author of The Secret Garden: Oxford Revisited, discuss whether the myth outstrips the reality. Sponsored by Purcell Miller Tritton, this debate offers Oxfordshire residents a rare chance to voice their opinions.

The second The Oxford Times’ debate, on Saturday, April 4, at 6pm in Christ Church considers whether Rural England Has a Future?

How serious is the threat posed by the closure of post offices, pubs and schools and the concreting over of the countryside for development?

Are those who object to these threats merely nostalgic Little Englanders who should adapt to progress and an ever-changing landscape?

This issue will be discussed by the politician, author and journalist Roy Hattersley, Tom Oliver, who is head of rural policy for the Campaign for Rural England (CPRE), and Richard Askwith, journalist and author of The Lost Village.