diff -ur asterisk-1.6.1.1/apps/app_festival.c asterisk-1.6.1.1-new/apps/app_festival.c
--- asterisk-1.6.1.1/apps/app_festival.c	2008-12-09 21:48:02.000000000 +0100
+++ asterisk-1.6.1.1-new/apps/app_festival.c	2009-08-05 23:50:38.654003227 +0200
@@ -128,10 +128,10 @@
 	if (res) {
 		return res;
 	}
-	dup2(fd, 0);
-	ast_close_fds_above_n(0);
 	if (ast_opt_high_priority)
 		ast_set_priority(0);
+	dup2(fd, STDIN_FILENO);
+	ast_close_fds_above_n(STDERR_FILENO);
 #ifdef __PPC__  
 	for (x = 0; x < length; x += 2) {
 		c = *(waveform + x + 1);
@@ -140,12 +140,11 @@
 	}
 #endif
 	
-	if (write(fd, waveform, length) < 0) {
+	if (write(STDIN_FILENO, waveform, length) < 0) {
 		ast_log(LOG_WARNING, "write() failed: %s\n", strerror(errno));
 	}
 
-	close(fd);
-	exit(0);
+	_exit(0);
 }
 
 static int send_waveform_to_channel(struct ast_channel *chan, char *waveform, int length, char *intkeys)
@@ -188,11 +187,13 @@
 		/* Order is important -- there's almost always going to be mp3...  we want to prioritize the
 		   user */
 		for (;;) {
+			ast_debug(1, "Block on wait\n");
 			res = ast_waitfor(chan, 1000);
 			if (res < 1) {
 				res = -1;
 				break;
 			}
+			ast_debug(1, "Read from channel\n");
 			f = ast_read(chan);
 			if (!f) {
 				ast_log(LOG_WARNING, "Null frame == hangup() detected\n");
@@ -215,6 +216,7 @@
 						(int)sizeof(myf.frdata) / 2, needed/2);
 					needed = sizeof(myf.frdata);
 				}
+				ast_debug(1, "Blocking on spawned read\n");
 				res = read(fds[0], myf.frdata, needed);
 				if (res > 0) {
 					myf.f.frametype = AST_FRAME_VOICE;
@@ -224,6 +226,7 @@
 					myf.f.offset = AST_FRIENDLY_OFFSET;
 					myf.f.src = __PRETTY_FUNCTION__;
 					myf.f.data.ptr = myf.frdata;
+					ast_debug(1, "Blocking on write\n");
 					if (ast_write(chan, &myf.f) < 0) {
 						res = -1;
 						ast_frfree(f);
@@ -238,6 +241,8 @@
 				} else {
 					ast_debug(1, "No more waveform\n");
 					res = 0;
+					ast_frfree(f);
+					break;
 				}
 			}
 			ast_frfree(f);