And a time, on Saturday and Sunday, when more photos are taken than on any other days of the year.
Oh yes, and it is also a time when if you happened to enter the heart of it all and were wearing the garb of today you would feel very out of place.
The festival has morphed from a colourful weekend a couple of decades ago into an absolute giant.
And a very fashionable and joyful one.
It is unique and this year's event has gathered applause and accolades, and I reckon that with the way it is constantly evolving, with events far and wide, we will see a royal presence some time in the future.
Prime Ministers and various personalities have it on their schedules now, as do hundreds of people from distant shores who have made it an annual pilgrimage.
I was talking to a chap (one has to use the term "chap" when scribing words about Art Deco) and he said the one startling thing which had emerged stronger by the year was how children and young people were becoming enthusiastically involved.
Schools have a Deco dress day and the children are told how it was all sparked — from a terrible earthquake to a wonderful rebuild in a wonderful style.
And today that style is revisited every February as the city slips into Brigadoon mode.
People like to dress up, and when it comes to dressing up kids don't like doing that... they love it.
So any excuse to wear beads and bonnets and feathers and little boas is enthusiastically adopted.
Ditto for their parents and grandparents as it is kind of party time.
A stylish party of course.
The festival has grown and grown to the stage now where it is effectively global.
Much of that is sparked by what I noted earlier — that more photos gets taken over the two main days of the event than at any other time of the year.
Which means they emerge on all manner of social media sites.
"We gotta go take a look at this," is likely the response from many who happen upon them.
And they do.
I guess the only impediment is the logistical aspect.
The limited size of the city and the potential for congestion.
You'd be more likely to strike a major Lotto prize than find a car park only a few hundred metres from the Sound Shell but hey, what's wrong with a good walk.
And the "no vacancies" signs were as common a sight as spotting a boater or braces, and I know of a great many regular deco visitors who book their rooms for next year when they check out from this year.
A few years back I spoke to one of the Dilmah tea lads who had journeyed here from Sri Lanka and he was stunned.
Stunned at how everything seemed to blend seamlessly together and stunned by the whole genteel and yet vibrant ambiance.
He was captivated by the soap box derby and while that was happening he pointed out "those wonderful aircraft" overhead and was captivated by the sound of a steam engine chuffing merrily along.
He was no stranger to travel or attending all sorts of events, but this Art Deco-inspired festival topped the charts for him.
I daresay it also topped the charts for the estimated 50,000 people who had a taste of this year's event.
That is a remarkable amount of people... only Elton John is able to echo it.
The management crew are remarkable in their expertise and organisational skills.
And the devotion of the many, many staff and volunteers who put in so much to create so much.
So it came to pass that on Monday morning Brigadoon had returned to 2019 but what ho...the jolly old countdown to 2020 has begun.
Roger Moroney is an award-winning journalist for Hawke's Bay Today and observer of the slightly off-centre.
