Emerging from their tents to be greeted by sun, smells, funfairs and last night's curried chips, writes Steven Carroll

'BY the time you buy your ticket, tent, drink and other bits and bobs, the weekend probably ends up costing about €500," mused Ciara Kelly from Co Westmeath yesterday morning as she gazed across the sprawling Blue campsite. "I think it was worth it. The atmosphere has been really good this year."

Ciara and her friend Angelina Treglia had just surfaced from their tents and were preparing for another busy day of festival frolics. While Angelina was cagily chomping her festival breakfast of sausages and tomato ketchup, Ciara reflected on her experience and life on the campsite.

"Everyone is really helpful, happy and there hasn't been any trouble from what we've seen. I was just saying that even in the queues for the shops and that, nobody is barging in or anything. They're all very well-mannered."

Some 35,000 campers set up their temporary homes in the Blue camping area over the weekend and to the event organiser's credit, they had no shortage of facilities to cater for their needs. On site, there was a 24-hour Centra, food stalls serving everything from fresh fruit to more traditional festival fare, mobile phone- charging facilities and even a funfair offering rodeo bull rides and bungee jumps. Being hurtled into the air after a heavy weekend's partying might not be everyone's idea of fun, but for 23-year-old Emma Devir from Letterkenny, Co Donegal, a trip to the funfair was an acid test of her resilience.

"This is a hangover cure. If I get off this and still feel rough, I'll know what to expect for the rest of the day," she said, firmly clutching a can of cider, as she queued for one of the fairground attractions.

After three nights of festivities, it was fair to say the campsite was looking a little worse for wear. A pungent smell, intensified by the blazing sun, was emanating from many of the Portaloos on site, and heavy footfall and excess water meant the ground was quite soggy underfoot.

Elsewhere, the pathways and passages between tents were heavily strewn with wrappers, cigarette butts, empty cans and, to one camper's disgust, an abandoned carton of curry chips.

"Jesus wept, that's not what you want to wake up to," said Ian Power from Waterford as he emerged from his tent. Despite the curry chip incident, he was accepting of the mess that has developed in the campsite.

"When you come to something like this, you have to accept it. People are going to drop food or cans or rubbish around the place - it's what happens when people drink for three days straight. I'd be surprised anyone would have an issue with it."

Many of the campers attending Oxegen came well prepared. Among these was Blathin Shiels from Co Derry. "We brought air mattresses, chairs, a stereo and a 10-man tent between just three of us. It has been a very comfortable weekend."

For less resourceful campers, a whole host of goods were available on site to ensure they were not left too far behind their forward-thinking neighbours. Sarah Wentworth of Joe Bananas, a travelling festival store that sells everything from chemical toilets to air mattresses, said business was good over the weekend.

"We're open here 24 hours a day and it has been busy all weekend. It has been quite cold so we've had people coming at all hours looking for blankets, sleeping bags and even a few looking for tents because someone has fallen over or into theirs and they can't get it back together."

Tents, and security problems surrounding them, were a source of controversy at recent festivals, however this year's event had a heightened security presence and Supt Pat Mangan of Naas Garda Station said that, as of yesterday evening, "it has been a very good weekend for us".

He added that there had been a number of arrests, mainly for public order offences and minor drug misdemeanours, but that the "spirit of the festival" had been excellent.