You have to watch your language in Tralee during Rose festival week.
The massive canvas yoke pitched beside the four-star Fels Point Hotel, the brand new home of the Rose of Tralee is not and never has been a tint. "A tint is something in Ballybrit that's full of builders," confided one of the organisers yesterday.
"The word marquee never seemed to do it justice so that's why it's always been called a dome."
Keep it to yourself, but there is nothing dome-like about the tint, a fact which has been confusing the boyfriend of Toronto Rose, Sarah Nestor. When cinematographer Seán Thompson heard the televised contest was held in a dome, that's what he was expecting.
"I felt deceived," he laughed yesterday. "I was saying - that's a tent not a dome, but everyone says it's a dome so you just have to accept it."
The Nestors were out en masse in Tralee yesterday with proud grandfather Mike Nestor (80), originally from Galway, leading the delegation.
As Toronto's boyfriend is fast realising, acceptance is a big part of the Rose festival.
There's no place for cynicism when 31 Roses parade through the town on floats as they did yesterday to adoring cheers. Or when beaming Sinéad Hurley (10), on holidays from Co Cork, shows you her prized autograph from Birmingham Rose Aimee Porch. "You have beautiful hair, Sinéad," she writes.
This year's crop of Roses share plenty of common ground. There are three police officers and several lawyers or law students among the bunch.
Boston and New England Rose Nora Rafferty, a police officer, even has her own Garda escort. Inevitably, Richard Owens from Store Street Garda station in Dublin has been involved in photoshoots where the three police Roses pretend to arrest him, which is about as racy as Rose photoshoots get.
The Roses ate "beef or salmon" for lunch yesterday at Kirby's Brogue Inn.
The ebullient owner Bill Kirby, celebrating his 30th festival, said the Rose of Tralee was thriving like never before. "Give us some good publicity. This is unique, there's nothing like it anywhere in the world," he said.
There will be "terrier racing" up The Rock, a road in the centre of town, this evening, so he does have a point.
And the move to Fels Point is yet another indication that the festival is now on steadier legs, unlike Westmeath Rose Marisa Murray who following an accident at a wedding was hobbling around on a crutch yesterday.
The Roses are staying in luxurious surroundings and a sign on the window informs locals that only "patrons or invited guests" will be allowed in. The friendly scrum around former venue the Brandon Hotel will not be tolerated here where all the crisp, white napkins have been expertly fashioned into - what else? - roses.
Talk to the Roses for long enough and the same words crop up. The experience is "amazing", "phenomenal", "magical" and sometimes all three at once.
Liverpool Rose Grace Kelly - "would most like to meet Grace Kelly" the programme notes inform us - is having "the time of my life, making friends for life".
Washington DC Rose Laura Olsen explains that one of her favourite moments so far was in Dublin when she heard a tour guide say "to your right are the gorillas and to your left are the Roses". "It's bizarre," she laughs.
Fresh from rehearsals, Today FM's Ray D'Arcy was looking forward to what will be his third time hosting the televised event.
Apparently this year's Roses are lower maintenance than before. "The demand for fake tan and false eyelashes isn't as high this year," he revealed.
He also said there was an effort being made to "elbow out" the party piece element of the show but mentioned that San Francisco Rose Katie Van Bogaert may do a drill exercise to demonstrate her rifle skill.
Expect to hear her defend her position tomorrow night on gun law in the US.
D'Arcy also had a bit of inside information about tonight's stage set which apparently features a stunning shell centrepiece and a structure designed to add a more dome-like effect to the tint. I mean marquee. Sorry, dome.
