Don said:
I don't feel animosity toward anyone, whether they attended or not. I must say tho' that the atmosphere was quite different. Gone the "us and them" feeling between arena goers and what they labelled as the fringe, and in its place a community feeling of "we are all here for the same thing".

I watched the BBC4 programme again over the weekend, and I did gain the impression that the arena was a separate entity, with its own food stalls, etc, and that if one spent the day there, it would be like a mini-festival, and one would not get involved in the town at all, e.g. like Cambridge.

I liked the way it was all integrated into the town, and if you didn't go to an organised concert, you could just wander around and see what was going on. It was commented upon in the local paper, that the town people felt more involved, specially in the crafts marquee, and the childrens events (you didn't have to have a season ticket to join in).