Drummond Street

And so it begins....

First, the weather turns awful, no one has a dry festival experience. It's just not the same if you're standing in a queue and there's not rain running down your neck.

Then the streets get busy. Not just Christmas shopping busy, but Tokyo subway busy. And the roads too take on a Bangkok-esque gridlock, a joy to those who revere such things but generally is a pain in the ass.

Prices rise, buses slow down as drivers patiently answer inane questions (eg does this bus go near the castle..?)

And the directions. These two guys I overheard as the scratched their heads and ponder the eternal question.

"Where is venue 76?"

White pen on metal post; no date but a lovely curly flourish in the 's'. Perrier Award, anyone?