Last year the Strawberry music festival came to town after the Midi music festival was cancelled. Organised by the folks at Modern Sky, it was a really pleasant weekend, with small crowds, good indie music, and plenty of food and booze.

This years, however, was entirely different. The success of last year's festival meant that more people wanted to see this years. So, on opening day, whereas last year you just bought your ticket and walked in, this year we were greeted by multi-hour queues. With swelteringly hot 33C+ weather, and no real options for beverages while you waited, it was a mess.

Inside wasn't much better — they were simply unprepared for crowds of this size. somewhere between five and ten thousand people showed up for a festival that was expecting perhaps one or two. They ran out of food, drinks, and everything else. Even to get some water turned into an hourlong ordeal, and by the end of the day, they ran out of that too.

I remembered my BUCKET OF MOJITO fondly from last year, and was hoping to have another this year. So, they got the bucket, the sugar, the limes, the mint, and the ice, poured in half a tub's worth of rum and ... that's it. They ran out of sprite.

So, on a killer-hot day with no water, I drank about 6 solid shots of rum. Ouch.

Still, the music was good, and it's a fun way to spend the day. I'll give it another chance next year before writing it off as dead.