In reply to Mark Collins:
What was that? I missed it!
It was good to see kiosk food locally sourced again but there were too few venues in the Brewery area for food and drink (especially for coffee in the film breaks ... since you had to queue, buy and drink it before re-entering) as the Brewery doesn't seem to want to have much competition. Please bring back Rins and everyone wins!
https://rinscoffee.com
The main bar shut again at 12 midnight on Friday. This is a major international festival with well behaved clientelle, so surely a slightly longer extension is possible on one of the two main evenings when people are staying. Meeting presenters, volunteers and other visitors is one of the big positives of the festival.
I really enjoyed the free talks but as basecamp was really crazy rammed at times over the weekend and people were sitting for a rest and chat, rather than interest in the talk, it was sometimes hard to concentrate. It was easier to listen to the Columbia talks as they were off to the side. It was so busy at times I'd shudder to think what would have happened if a fire started in basecamp.
Talks and literature events seem to be the usual high quality. The film lineup was excellent but I heard loads of people grumbling about booking film tickets. The old day pass worked well on the Friday but was a clear problem on Saturday and Sunday, so I understand that something had to change. The new system meant many people were signing up to 90 minute sessions without knowing what films they contained, until they got hold of the paper festival guide (unless they were a labyrinth genius and managed to navigate things on the website). Having an allocated seat was a major bonus to many I spoke to. If this booking process continues for films, some better advanced info is required or a return to topic titles like snow sport, environment etc.