More good news for Liverpool venues six weeks in to Capital of Culture.
As I reveal in today's Echo, everyone from cathedrals to footie clubs, museums, galleries, and hotels are enjoying a hefty rise in visitor numbers compared to the same time last year.
Stephen Done, the enthusiastic curator at LFC's Anfield museum, described them as being "ludicrously busy" and said he believed it was the 08 effect taking hold.
And I know it's rather about-faced, but anecdotal evidence also backs up the specific figures.
I was told last month of how one lady in her 70s, who had lived in the city all her life, turned up at FACT with her sandwiches saying she was on a cultural day out in her own city, doing things she normally wouldn't have done.
Look at the numbers who turned out for the opening weekend.
Look at how fast the tickets were snapped up for the Viennese Balls at St George's Hall.
Look at how many people tried to get a place at Liverpool Sound.
Not everything in the garden has been, or will be, rosy for 2008. But there is obviously an appetite out there for Capital of Culture, a feeling of wanting to be involved.
A cousin who I have never met, and who until a year or two ago when we started emailing each other about family history I didn't know existed, is talking about coming over from Canada to see Liverpool this year - to see the port his parents' parents emigrated from and to take part in Capital of Culture celebrations.
People are telling me all the time about friends and relations who want to get involved.
It's early days yet - we don't want to peak too early and there are no doubt some dicey moments on the horizon - but despite the political wrangling, the reasons to be cheerful about Capital of Culture seem to be increasing all the time.
