That’s right boys and girls, it’s that time of year when the masses descend upon the rocks to satisfy their caffeine addictions – The Rocks Aroma Coffee Festival 2009.

Featuring cups of coffee for $2 as well as tea, chai, and hot chocolate for the half dozen or so people that don’t drink coffee, this year’s festival features free entertainment at four unique destinations. Apparently his year, you can even take a camel ride from The Orient to The Oasis, though what this has to do with coffee is beyond me. Still, for those of you now sporting children, a camel ride is probably cheaper than a babysitter and after all, what’s the worst thing that could happen whilst riding an enormous legged beast in an environment completely alien to its natural habitat?

*cough*

Crowds have been getting bigger and bigger each year so we’d recommend making an early appearance. Doing this also has the distinct advantage of minimising potential exposure to the hardcore caffeine junkies and tweakers, or ‘connoisseurs’ as they refer to themselves.

Finally, if you’re one of those people who are of the opinion that Starbucks or Gloria Jeans qualifies as coffee, then this event probably isn’t for you. For some reason it would seem that the Aroma Coffee Festival doesn’t seem to feature in the marketing plan for either of the evil empires – they’re probably too busy plotting the downfall of your local coffee shop.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Electric Firefly will be hawking our wares as per usual at the nearby Rocks Markets? To celebrate this year’s coffee festival, anyone that brings me a flat white with two sugars when purchasing any lamp can have their electrical fitting (usually $10) absolutely free. (nb. coffee must be hot and not tampered with in any way unless prior permission has been sought). You’ll be able to spot me as i’ll be getting into the true spirit of things by wearing my favourite and incredibly appropriate Threadless tshirt.

Lastly, those crazy kids in the Coffee Festival team have gone all web 2.0 and made a video where they create a replica of the Mona Lisa using 4,000 cups of coffee. Don’t think it’s about to knock the Evian rollerskating babies off their throne but worth a look if you have a spare 120 seconds.