WHAT does Hay-on-Wye have in common with Spain, Colombia, Mexico – and now India?

It might sound like a joke but the answer to the question is fast becoming a global phenomenon.

Hay Festival’s Peter Florence is about to launch the 12th export of the border town’s event – and his 97th festival as director – in the Indian state of Kerala.

In doing so he brings his local brand of entertainment to a wider audience than ever before.

“India is this huge tiger economy of the world and, while a lot of the focus is on China, clearly India is going to be a much easier partner for the West,” he explained.

“It’s a box of wonders – we are so convinced our language is the best but that is not the way the world thinks.”

Nevertheless, the Kerala lineup is no less glittering than any of its sister events.

Rosie Boycott, Sebastian Faulks and Bob Geldof will help form a half-international, half-native line-up that the British Deputy High Commissioner Mike Nithavrianakis says is much more appropriate than those less well informed might think.

“It’s not our job to ram English down people’s throats but there it is seen as a ticket to prosperity,”

he said on a visit to Hay last week. He has been helping organisers find sponsors and build partnerships.

“It’s a really good location for Hay in which to have its first festival in India, because it’s a beautiful state and there are also more British tourists visiting Kerala than any other.”

And after tickets sold out “almost before we announced we were coming” some would say the Hay Festival brand looks set to conquer the world, but Mr Florence is keen to keep things in perspective.

“We are not running the SAS or hospitals, we are running a festival, so if we screw up the worst that can happen is people get a bit bored for a few hours – the best that can happen is, people share things,” he said.

“It’s a wonderful, big, global adventure, but the heart of all these things is they are intensely local.”