It could only happen in Dunedin. Opera and bagpipes battled for attention in the Octagon yesterday.
Just as Opera Otago singer Dan Carberg and conductor Matthew Leese were clearing their throats to sing a piece from L'Orfeo, the wild skirl of bagpipes filled the Octagon.
To make it even worse - or funnier - the opera performance was being broadcast live around the country on Radio New Zealand's Upbeat arts programme.
Host Eva Radich could only look skyward.
Minutes after the bagpipes echoed away and opera had reclaimed the Octagon, the Dunedin Town Hall clock struck 1pm.
You just had to laugh.
DCC communications co-ordinator Rodney Bryant later told me the Municipal Chambers clock chimes will be off from Monday until the end of the festival.
"We're turning them off so there's no danger of interrupting any performances of the Otago Festival of the Arts."
The Radio New Zealand programme also featured Bulgarian violinist Bella Hristova, who plays in Anthony Ritchie's 3rd Symphony concert in the Dunedin Town Hall tonight.
Hristova was not prepared to risk her 1655 Nicolò Amati violin in the Dunedin elements, so played Bach's E Major Partita in the Regent Theatre foyer.
English conductor Simon Over said he was eager to get on stage for the world premiere.
"It's very exciting and I'm really looking forward to it," he told me.
"But, I always get a bit of performance anxiety. Although I probably get more nervous in rehearsals. Once you're on the podium for the actual performance you forget about your anxiety and it just flows."
Earlier, while crossing Princes St, I bumped into Daniel Belton, whose Line Dances film premieres at the Metro Cinema tomorrow.
"I haven't sat down and watched the whole thing myself yet, so I can't wait," he said of the seven pieces which make up the 65-minute film.
Dr Ritchie will be playing a live prologue before the film screenings.
"It's a very funny piece, but it's also quite poignant," Belton said.
The Dhol Foundation was an extraordinary experience last night, drumming up such an explosion of thumping bass that organisers were forced to ask the audience in the upper seats not to dance.
We might have to do some more fundraising for the Regent Theatre ...
The fun continues today and tomorrow with the Kransky Sisters, Le Sud and Opera Otago's L'Orfeo.
The Montana Festival Club in the Dunedin Centre is your chance to mingle with performers and share show experiences from 10pm.
Groove along with Swing of Things tonight and Philtre Jazz Trio tomorrow.
WHAT'S ON TODAY AND TOMORROW
TODAY
• All day: Mural installation (Hoyts Lane).
• All day: "Cut Collective" (DPAG).
• All day: Don Driver (DPAG).
• All day: Frances Hodgkins "Portraits" (DPAG).
• All day: "Reaches" (Bellamy's Gallery).
• All day: Victoria McIntosh "Smother" (Lure).
• All day: Rob McHaffie (Brett McDowell Gallery).
• All day: Marie Strauss "All is Not Well in Paradise" (Temple Gallery).
• All day: Ewan McDougall "Man Murdering Bear" (Gallery De Novo).
• All day: "Plenty" (Rocda Gallery).
• All day: James Kerr and John Z. Robinson "Notes from Grey City" (Moray Gallery).
• All day: Gary Waldrom (Milford Galleries).
• All day: Allan Batt and Jane Crisp "Flora and Fauna" (The Artist's Room).
• 7.30pm: The Pitmen Painters (Fortune Theatre).
• 7.30pm: Shall We Gather at the River (Globe Theatre).
• 8pm: The Kransky Sisters (Glenroy Auditorium).
• 8pm: Symphony No.3 (Dunedin Town Hall).
• 8pm: Le Sud (Settlers Theatre).
• 8pm: One Day (St Paul's Crypt).
• 10pm: Swing of Things (Montana Festival Club).
TOMORROW
• All day: Mural installation (Hoyts Lane).
• All day: "Cut Collective" (DPAG).
• All day: Don Driver (DPAG).
• All day: Frances Hodgkins "Portraits" (DPAG).
• All day: "Reaches" (Bellamy's Gallery).
• All day: Victoria McIntosh "Smother" (Lure).
• All day: Rob McHaffie (Brett McDowell Gallery).
• All day: Marie Strauss "All is Not Well in Paradise" (Temple Gallery).
• All day: Ewan McDougall "Man Murdering Bear" (Gallery De Novo).
• All day: "Plenty" (Rocda Gallery).
• All day: James Kerr and John Z. Robinson "Notes from Grey City" (Moray Gallery).
• All day: Gary Waldrom (Milford Galleries).
• All day: Allan Batt and Jane Crisp "Flora and Fauna" (The Artist's Room).
• 2pm: Le Sud (Settlers Theatre).
• 2pm: Shall We Gather at the River (Globe Theatre).
• 4pm: The Pitmen Painters (Fortune Theatre).
• 7.30pm: L'Orfeo (Mayfair Theatre).
• 8pm: The Kransky Sisters (Glenroy Auditorium).
• 8pm: Le Sud (Settlers Theatre).
• 8pm: One Day (St Paul's Crypt).
• 8pm: Line Dances (Metro Cinema).
• 10pm: Philtre Jazz Trio (Montana Festival Club).
