A Voss and Pike Casefile: The Early Days
Section 26: The Festival Programme
The programme ran to three headings. FINE ARTS QUARTER: opera, a string quartet, "An Evening of Shakespeare", all at the Grand Lantern. HERITAGE SQUARE: the Global Quarter preview. And COMMUNITY LANE, behind the Customs House: the Dockside brass band, a Mauritian dholl puri stall, the Bangladeshi women's catering group, bingo. Beside the heading, in small print: informal.
"Informal," said Bernie. "Like we're underwear."
"High culture for the cultured," said Jonah, "and a lane by the bins for the masses."
"The Sentinel calls our lads chavs for owning a decent coat," said Bernie. "Roland's register calls Saturday afternoon on Dockside 'friction (noise)'. It's a football match."
The festival ranks "fine arts" above everything else and relegates working-class and minority community stalls to an "informal" lane behind the venue - culture stratified by class and taste, in the manner Marian's audit set out to document.