The queue before the gates

Source A: an original contemporary non-fiction-style account.

By nine, the festival queue had developed streets of its own. Bags marked boundaries on the grass, and small groups defended squares of shade beneath the fence. Somebody unfolded a chair with the confidence of a person establishing permanent residence. We were still two hours from the opening, but the entrance was already the centre of a temporary town.

News travelled quickly and inaccurately. A rumour that another gate had opened sent a ripple along the line; ten minutes later the same information returned, reversed and more certain. A volunteer walked past with a radio, becoming the object of intense hope. He was only looking for a missing delivery. Around me, people checked tickets they had already checked and shook water bottles to estimate what remained. The queue moved three steps, stopped and congratulated itself with a brief lifting of bags.

When the gates finally opened, our careful little neighbourhood dissolved. Chairs snapped shut, boundaries disappeared and strangers who had exchanged advice about sunscreen separated at the first junction. I had spent the morning wishing the wait would end. Walking into the festival, I realised that part of the day's social life had already taken place outside it.

Refer to the whole of Source A. Analyse how the writer uses language to portray the waiting crowd and its temporary relationships. Explain the effects of specific words, phrases and language choices, using evidence from the passage.