Well, never in my wildest dreams could I have believed it could get as bad as it was this year.

Not only could we not find our favourite buskers, but when we did find them, the next time we went to look for them they had been moved elsewhere.

As for the 80dB sound limit, what a total joke that was. The worst offender of the lot was the council stage. I borrowed a sound meter from a friend and tested the sound coming from there – it was 98.9dB.

When I asked the host there, he said the council stage was exempt from the rule. So I went inside and asked the poor girls behind the counter (they could hardly hear what I was saying), who said the limit also applied to the stage, so someone was sent out to get the sound man to turn it down.

Not 20 minutes later I tested it again and it was back up to 98.9dB. I just gave up and walked away in disgust.

I am also over the price hike that goes on during the festival’s 10 days.

It seems the traders aren’t happy to get the extra dollars from all the extra people in town, so they put their prices up as well.

One pub we visited two weeks ago charged me $4.30 for a schooner of beer. During the festival it went up to $5.

They also had their normal food menu covered and a special marked-up festival menu on display in its place.

As for camping, the council sports fields are a total rip-off and are closely followed by everyone else, including the schools, that ask for top dollar.

Tamworth, if you want to continue to attract the fans, you need to lift your game.

BOB VICKERS

GRAFTON