Like all big events, the Wexford Opera Festival could be compared to the swan that appears to drift serenely across the surface of a lake, but which, in reality, is powered by little legs paddling away frantically underneath. Ever thought about the logistics of feeding, watering, and housing the scores of international singers and performers who are in Wexford for several weeks of rehearsal and performance? Where, for instance, do they set up their temporary homes for the duration?

Performers in Wexford tend to prefer either looking after themselves in houses or apartments or staying in B & Bs which offer a more homely atmosphere than the anonymity of a hotel.

Catherine Saunderson's B & B, Farranseer House, is in Coolcotts, a short walk from Wexford town, and up a secluded lane. She has been running it for some eight years, and every festival has taken in long-stay performers and the opera-buffs who return each year.

"I've had a lot of singers staying over the years. Russians, Italians, Americans. They stay for the whole time. The set designers, they leave once the opera opens," she explains. "The singers, I would often hear them practising. They sing in their rooms. I have kettles in there, you know, the way you would in a B & B, and they were always boiling these kettles. I couldn't understand what they were at. The kettles were always going, and they singing. I asked them in the end, why were they boiling the kettles, and they said it was because the steam in the air was good for their voices. All that steam ruined my blinds," she says ruefully.

Do they have special requests? "It can never be too warm for them. The heat is on all the time. They are very particular about that. They always want the place very hot. And they eat a lot of pasta. Sometimes they eat out in town, and sometimes I'll cook the pasta for them." As a thank-you, the singers will come into the kitchen and sing a few arias.

So is it true that opera singers can be a little difficult? "Oh yes, indeed. You'd know if they hadn't had a good rehearsal day. They'd be very temperamental." In what way? "Well, everything would have to be perfect for them. It would all have to be right." Saunderson is too polite to reveal exactly how rude some people can be after a bad day of rehearsal, but she does say: "I had one Italian gentleman once, a conductor. He was always rushing. He was very temperamental. I remember him very well". She smiles at the memory but will say no more.

Saunderson has some guests who return every year - opera buffs, who travel from Britain. "They usually stay four nights, and go to all three operas. They're fanatical about the opera. I have one gentleman who comes to me here and then he goes on to Paris for 10 days to see opera there."

The household iron is always in big demand when the opera-goers are in the house, with the women dressing up in frocks every night and the men shaking out their tuxedoes. "I had one man in a kilt last year, and I was very surprised, because he wasn't Scottish. I mean, why would you be wearing a kilt if you weren't Scottish?"

The guests often come to look for her and say "goodbye" in all their finery before they head off for the night. "It's late when they're home, because they go on to eat afterwards: the restaurants stay open especially at opera time. They'd all be talking about the operas over their breakfast. I'd always hear them discussing what the newspaper critics had to say, but I'd never hear the performers discussing the reviews. Oh no. They keep that very private. And I don't ask."

And does she go to see the operas herself? "I'm more interested in the light operas," she confesses, "but I have been to the real Wexford operas the last three years. There is a gentleman who comes to stay and he bought tickets and asked if I would accompany him. And I went. They are special nights; they are all glamour."

At Rosslare Strand, Peter Fox and his wife Noreen have 10 self-catering villas on the palm-fringed beachfront that they have been renting out to performers since 1984. "They like the peace here," Peter Fox says, indicating the window, which overlooks the long lick of Rosslare Strand, where the waves compose their own eternal music. He refers to this time of year as "the Lenten period, because the singers are with us for 40 days and 40 nights".

Rosslare village has a population of about 500, so the performers "liven up the place a good bit. They're a big addition to the community. Sometimes they'll sing at Mass, for instance. They wouldn't be asked to, or anything, they would just want to do it themselves."

Since the villas are self-catering, the Foxes don't have much contact with the performers, but they often hear the sound of singing as they pass by. "For the last couple of years, we've organised something we call `Sing for your Supper'." What's that?

"We invite all the opera people who are staying with us for wine and supper, and we'll invite some of our friends and neighbours to meet them. It's an opportunity to meet informally and for local people to meet the singers. We'd have a lot of wine and food, and there is absolutely no pressure on anyone to sing - but they usually do, after about the third glass of wine.

"We'd never ask anyone to sing. After all, these people are professionals. It's not like the rest of us, who are always on for a song after a few drinks. You have to respect that. But they always do sing at some stage, and then some of the locals will sing too, ballads and so on. It's always a great evening, and the ones that arrive saying they can't stay long are usually the last to leave!"

Fox has been to several opening nights over the years. "The attraction is heightened by the fact that you've actually met some of the performers, and that you know some of the people involved. It makes it a big occasion."

His abiding memory of opening nights - the starlings who twittered in the auditorium a couple of years ago aside - is of three years ago. "We walked into the foyer and there, in that tiny little space, were three of the four presidential candidates and Bertie. It was amazing to watch all the local councillors and politicians buzzing around them. Such a small space and so much going on in it." In Wexford, the opera may be international, but the politics are still local.