Tens of thousands of music fans will arrive at outdoor festivals around Ireland this summer, hauling bags stuffed with battery packs and wet wipes for a weekend camping in a field they pray stays dry.
It can feel like entering a separate society. Hordes of people mill from campsite to stage to food truck; queues form for everything from toilets to patches of grass; flags and art installations dot the site as community hubs. It can be difficult to imagine the space as anything other than the makeshift city in front of you, but just a few days earlier there will have been nothing in its place.
Then, almost as soon as the event ends, logistics planning for next year begins – including, if the festival is growing, how to tweak facilities to cater for more people.
A small…