The 18th Commonwealth Games once again prove that Australia has the best sporting spectators on earth. As they showed at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, Australians really now how to throw a party centred on sport. As in Sydney, they took the Games to the streets and engulfed the entire city in the festivities on several levels. And the atmosphere has been buzzing.

First there are the Live Sites - open spaces around town where enormous video screens are set up so fans who aren’t in the stadium can catch the infectious crowd spirit. The main Live Site here is in Federation Square, a hub of activity right in the middle of the city (and also quite possibly the ugliest town square ever designed, but at least it works).

Swarms of people spill out of Federation Square down along the Yarra where the nightly sound, light and water show around the giant fish sculptures has become one of the most popular daily attractions. The surge also pushes up into the central business district, where throngs of locals and tourists jostle to get in and out of shops, cafes, bars and, of course, trams and trains. Melburnians say they’ve never seen anything like it - and many are pointedly staying away and waiting impatiently for the Games to be over. Others are diving in with gusto.

There’s also a massive arts festival running in and around the Games - from those huge river fish, representing every one of the 71 nations competing to concert stages, art galleries, a giant sandy beach outside the Arts Centre and installation art everywhere. One of the more intriguing exhibits is the Urban Dream Capsule, which has taken over front windows of the main department store in the city centre. This project began here years ago and has travelled around the world, returning for the 11 days of the Games, when four performance artists are living in the shop windows, in full view of passersby. The four windows have been transformed into a living room, kitchen, bedroom and, yes, bathroom. And crowds on the street can be seen interacting with these lively guys all day and night.

There’s actually so much going on that it’s impossible to take it all in - but everywhere you go there’s something else to remind you that you’re not actually seeing Melbourne as it is normally - these are amazing days in this city, and you can’t help but think that after tonight’s promised closing spectacular the local residents are going to want to find a way to keep the buzz buzzing.

Rich Cline.