Clockenflap in the Rain

London Grammar has a glowing red stage to keep people's spirits up in the rain

Today the skies looked overcast, and trying to be optimistic, I didn't bring an umbrella with me to the second day of Clockenflap.

It turned out to be a very bad decision.

Around 2.45pm, sprinkles of rain immediately turned into a downpour, and lots of people in the food area gathered under a large tent waiting for the rain to end. And waited and waited.

Earlier in the day there were big puddles and hiding in tents

It must have been tough for the performers to keep the audience engaged, but the artists braved on, while festival goers were trying to figure out the best course of action -- stay or go? They had paid HK$980 for the day... but no one was expecting monsoon rains today, with temperatures down to 14 degrees.

The rain finally let up over 30 minutes later, giving us enough time to find other shelter before it poured yet again, but tough for fans for Jose Gonzales, who is more an acoustic musician, and one of my colleagues gave up because the rain was so heavy and all she saw was a sea of umbrellas.

This gave me an opportunity to dry out a bit; but that wasn't to last. Just before dinner I wandered the main site again, and then just as Fat Freddy's Drop began their performance, but people seemed to brave the rain for some sunny reggae/techno/funk music to keep them going.

I got caught in the rain and was completely drenched -- water covered my face and at times I couldn't see where I was going very clearly! I managed to get a plastic poncho, but the damage had already been done -- my jacket was soaked, my socks and shoes completely wet, as well as my bag.

A journalist interviews members of Fat Freddy's Drop

After I got home I started drying them off, but it's several hours later and they are still drying off... what a day.

In places like the UK, rain is expected in music festivals. But in Hong Kong, even going across the harbour is a big deal. There were lots of complaints about the weather, but what can you do?

Hopefully almost all my things will be dry by tomorrow and that all the rain has fallen tonight so there's none left for tomorrow.

For a long time, I'd been thinking of investing in decent rubber boots and always thought that typhoons happened only a few times a year so it didn't make sense to buy a pair. But now I'm kicking myself for not investing in them anyway...