INDEPENDENT.IE Saturday July 10 2010

PHOTOS from Punchestown as the Oxegen music festival got under way are reminiscent of Renoir’s Les Parapluies, with brightly coloured tents seeming to jostle for position, just as their owners compete for the best viewing and listening spot.

But it looks as though the estimated 70,000 revellers will need more than umbrellas today, as Met Eireann issued a severe weather warning and forecast heavy rain spreading across the country. The outlook for today and tomorrow would suggest that the hardy festivalgoers will need wellies and raincoats.

But then, ever since Woodstock, adverse weather conditions have been part of the fun of the music festival.

Rock and roll in the mud, why don’t you, and think of Glastonbury.

An event like Oxegen proves that it takes more than rain and recession to dampen the spirit of the country.

The fact that so many people, mostly young, have the heart to rough it, just for the heck of it, reminds us that there is more to life than negative equity.

Those thousands roughing it today on a racecourse in Co Kildare choose to see the positive side.

Nor is it all about the music, although the likes of Arcade Fire and Eminem are an important ingredient.

It is about socialising, co-operation and just getting along.

Hence it is a celebration of a society that remains stubbornly healthy, cheerful and robust — despite all the knocks and challenges.

If music be the food of recovery, rock on.