Abandoning the snail-paced coffee line for the second time I opt instead for an alcoholic beverage as I settle down for what the somewhat under-zealous MC dubs a Durban takeover – in the form of Josh Wantie and Majozi. Indie newcomers Sweet Resistance open the stage and I wander over to the food court to get my culinary bearings. The chilly breeze has subsided, the sky is blisteringly blue and I’m already regretting the multiple layers of clothing I have opted to bring along. Inside the lush lawns unfurl before the stage. We loiter at the gates, waiting for them to open as the intermittent clattering booms of sound check echo off the stadium and a gradually growing queue of bright eyed early-comers grows and begins to stretch around the corner. The Mother City’s edition of Parklife this year kicks off slowly.

On the other hand, for those of us more partial to the gritty festival grind, there is a strange sense of limbo as we don virtual blinkers to block out the high rise buildings of Green Point flanking the venue. For the glampers it’s divine – no roughing and toughing it while hauling camping gear to a suitable location, while the ground is pristine and just firm enough to bear the balance of the high-heels, in which far too many girls arrived. It’s a curious little parallel universe: a one day festival in the heart of the city.

Parklife festival 2016 south africa