Hay-on-Wye may be a small Welsh border town of 1,500 people but for the last 10 days it has been the centre of the literary world, with an amazing international line-up of authors and others all coming to this 21-year-old annual 'Glastonbury' for book lovers – or as Bill Clinton put it "The Woodstock of the mind".

So it was a very pleasant surprise to be asked to discuss the proposition that 'The recession means the end of the architectural icon' – especially as I have not written the book yet!

Apart from the fact that we are having a glorious weekend (and it really is eye-watering hay-fever time for me) the collection of speakers is a real treat, knocking spots off any big city equivalent.

My big concern is that my speaking slot clashes with the genius Alan Bennett, author of The Uncommon Reader and so much else that makes me laugh, and Howard Jacobson talking about his crazy new novel The Act of Love.

Will anyone really prefer to hear me and the architectural correspondent of the Observer, Deyan Sudjic, wrestling over whether we shall get more 'Gherkins' looming over our cities or not? Maybe our only hope is that the others are sold out…

But that is the extraordinary thing about Hay – every session seems to attract stars – I have Kevin McCloud and David Crystal on before me, and the hilarious Jo Brand to wind down with after. So you begin to get the idea that Hay may be about books and ideas but it is also a good laugh.

As if this is not enough – and I am only talking about one sample afternoon – there is a colourful 'fringe' festival for kids, 'Hay Fever' with all the best children's authors and illustrators strutting their stuff.

It is not surprising that many of the adults, including teachers, seem to find this a delightful antidote to the heavier literary offers.

The extraordinary success of Hay – it does not even have a railway station – owes much to its quirky nature, the beauty of the countryside and the ever so slightly erudite party atmosphere that has been created on its festival site – without the quagmire and site security that too often seems to define Glastonbury – and you only pay for what you want to hear and see.

B ath may have its Literary Festival and Bristol its continuous Festival of Ideas, both of which are important to our sister cities with a combined catchment area of about one million people, but little Hay knocks spots off us, spreading their brand and influence across continents. The Hay Festival now takes place in Spain and Columbia and is unbelievably opening in Nairobi and Beirut this year.

Its founder, book seller Peter Florence, could not have imagined what he was starting. Where will it end – Beijing, Moscow and New Hay Festival Beijing and New York? Maybe any city is possible except Paris – where French chauvinism would certainly prevail.

So where and what is the next 'Hay' going to spring from?

Could Chew Magna pull it off?

What is certain is that there seems to be a hunger for festivals and maybe the greater the general gloom the more we look for light and intellectual relief.

I have a hunch that Bristol comedy promoter Steve Lount could be onto something big. He has devised a week-long comedy festival, Brouhaha, to take place over a week towards the end of July.

Bristol Brouhaha Beijing – could be a laugh.