IT'S an irony not lost on Hay Festival Director Peter Florence that he can no longer afford to buy a house back in the town he and his wife love.

Having moved to London four years ago - for Rebecca's job - they now plough through house particulars which read 'perfectly situated for Hay Festival' - something that could stick in the throat.

Regular visitors to the increasingly renowned event have been known to buy a house in the area, simply to avoid inflated rental costs or the chance of not finding a hotel.

Accommodation in the area - and as far afield as Malvern - has been booked for weeks.

This year's sixteenth Festival programme holds as much interest as ever. The 'Gold Cup' equivalent in literary circles heralds a string of names and 'faces off the telly'.

Germaine Greer is back on side, after last year's Nestle sponsorship issue, (Florence tactfully admits that he 'regretted the distraction it caused to the festival and is pleased to have Greer back'), Van Morrison is kicking off on the first Friday - in what has become a festival favourite - and Alison Moyet is the headline act for the final night.

'Hay Fever' - an entire programme of events aimed at school aged children runs throughout half term, and includes such luminaries as the newly crowned Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo and Terry Pratchett, while musical quartets pepper the programme lending an altogether more classical tone to proceedings.

Proud

Countering rumours that locals are not over-enamoured with the arrival of thousands of 'London types', Florence states that he is proud to see Britain's only literary festival 25 miles from the nearest railway station and firmly ensconced in a rural market town.

"It's a great thing!"

He also qualifies its profile for being elitist as 'simply trying to achieve the best' and 'cheaply giving people the opportunity to see things they wouldn't otherwise get the opportunity to experience'.

Statistically the festival attracts more visitors from Manchester and Birmingham than it does London and as many of the businesses in and around Hay do about a third of their annual turnover during festival week, I doubt they're complaining.

Many of the sponsors from the first festival sponsor, which Florence started with his father in 1988, still support the festival today, along with multi-nationals (like Orange and The Guardian), who want a piece of that 'arty pie'.

Everyone he employs to work on the festival is local, having learned from experience the error of recruiting out-of-towners. "It just doesn't work," he says.

Ten days ahead of opening, ticket sales are well up on last year and the impact of broadband has had its effect - with 25,000 tickets having been sold online.

September 11 and the war in Iraq have had their toll on international visitors, but even that hasn't disheartened the director, who reports that subscriptions to the online video service are 'well up'.

He seems remarkably laid back.

"It will rain," he says.

"What will go wrong now we can't do anything about.

"People will drop out and people won't turn up but the British audience is very resilient."

Interview by Julie Harries