At the top of Obins Street in Portadown, a group of people in bright blue windcheaters watch carefully as RUC Land Rovers and armoured vehicles take their positions in this nationalist area on the edge of the Protestant Corkrain Estate. Every detail - the number of vehicles, the activities of the RUC, the direction army weapons are pointing - is scribbled neatly in notebooks by the international observer corps who travel thousands of miles each year to witness events at Drumcree.
"It's like being a fireman - we are on call all the time," says Mr Matt Horton (20), a member of the recently formed Students for Justice group who came from Los Angeles, where he studies politics. Unlike other veteran observers, it is his first time here.
"We thought it would be good to get some younger activists and observers to come over," he says. "We are here at the request of the residents. They feel our presence here helps things be more just and equal and fair. If they want that, and I can provide it, I will do it."
Before they arrive, observers are warned they are potential targets of loyalist violence, but one group they are unlikely to come under attack from is the nationalist community. The first-time visitor to Portadown will quickly notice that these "independent international observers" can only be seen on patrol in nationalist areas. Locals greet them by name, stopping to chat and to keep them informed of the latest police, army or Orange activity.
New safety precautions are in place this marching season for the observers. "This is the first year we have been told not to wear our jackets on our way to monitor the flashpoints, but we put them on when we get there so we are identifiable to the cops," says New York-based human rights lawyer Ms Mary Elizabeth Bartholemew of the Irish Parades Emergency Commission.
Ms Bartholemew carries a walkie-talkie and is updated regularly on activities at the other seven "flashpoints" where international observers regularly patrol. Others carry binoculars and video cameras. She has been here before.
"It is really disturbing to see the contrast between the little peaceful scenes, kids chasing their balls without fear near the Drumcree community centre and then you hear the stories of how quickly it can change and it's jarring," she says.
While they stand on the street a fight between local Protestant and Catholic children breaks out and later a man crashes his motorcycle but is unharmed. Everything is faithfully recorded in Mr Horton's A4 notepad, along with the exact time it occurred. "You never know what may be relevant," he says. At one point in the evening a car bearing a "Wear Your Poppies With Pride" sticker pulls up beside them and the young people inside taunt the observers ("Students for Justice? Justice for who?" one asks) before laughing and driving away.
Earlier that afternoon, some observers were relaxing in the sunshine in the front yard of the Drumcree Community Centre, where a sign on the gate reads: "No Media Allowed".
"From our experience it is tremendously beneficial to have another pair of eyes on the scene," says Boston-based Ms Pat Maher, a friendly woman with dangling earrings and two pairs of glasses hanging around her neck. She is from a group called Peace Watch Ireland. "In some places we play a check and balance role vis-a-vis police behaviour. I wouldn't generalise but a few of us were deployed to a march in Kilkeel, Co Down a few days ago and I believe that if it wasn't for our presence they (the RUC) could have really hurt people."
She says her group is concerned with justice and equity "and the community that does not have equity in Northern Ireland is the nationalist community. We are primarily here to see where there has been a traditional abuse of rights of one group over another". Ms Maher's group works on a variety of projects across Northern Ireland all year long. "We do not do drive-by observing . . . it's not just: `Oh Ireland is romantic, let's go there'," says the community worker.
"Although some friends think I'm crazy, because this is my vacation time, and they say, `why can't you just go to a beach like a normal person?' "
She is also aware there are those on both sides who view these annual visitors as the worst kind of naive do-gooders. "It's true, there is this American presumption that we can save the rest of the world, and I think that any American who is involved in this kind of work has to ask themselves why are we doing this and whose need it is really fulfilling. I also think there is some thrill-seeking that goes on, although I think people are here with good intentions," she says.
By this weekend there will be 100 such observers milling around the Garvaghy Road. Lawyers, business people, teachers, students from all over the world - they stay in the houses of residents and spend quiet times in the community centre waiting for a call from co-ordinators. By Sunday, the group of observers is expected to include former mayor of New York Mr David Dinkins, a former Canadian attorney general, at least one US congressman and the president of a Canadian trade union. Some observers have made firm friendships with locals and it is obvious they are welcome in Garvaghy Road.
One of the co-ordinators, South African Mr Heeten Ralan of Friends of the Garvaghy Road USA, insists that despite the obvious bonds forged with the nationalist community, impartiality is vital. "They all have their integrity and credibility to maintain when they go home, which is why we place a strong emphasis on them being independent observers. Their integrity is on the line if they are not impartial and independent," he says. Mr Ralan describes the observer team as a non-governmental effort at witnessing and observing.
"It shows the world is watching . . . we think we are making a positive contribution to the situation," he says. Some observers who spoke to The Irish Times maintained that requests for meetings with the Orange Order had been refused, and that if observers were requested on the loyalist side they would oblige.
Orange Order spokesman Mr David Jones denies this: "I don't know of any requests for meetings. We would welcome observers on our side after we have looked at the bona fides of the people . . . at the moment I would be concerned at their impartiality if they are not hearing both sides of the story," he says.
But Garvaghy Road spokesman Mr Brendan Mac Cionnaith says "the media aren't even safe up at Drumcree Church around this time so the observers are unlikely to be".
As darkness falls outside St John's Church, the Catholic place of worship on the Garvaghy Road, another cluster of blue wind cheaters stands watching and waiting, for what exactly seems unclear. When approached the young men and women say they are not authorised to talk to the media.
Suddenly, an American blue-coat with a walkie-talkie clutches his earpiece and interrupts their chat with a dramatic: "I'm sorry, but we can't talk to you right now." The 20-somethings rush down a grass verge whispering before a car pulls up and two of them are driven away.
Whatever happens at Drumcree this weekend, one thing is certain: there will be plenty to tell the folks back home.