'After we lost money again last year, we thought that was the last Rockit,' he says. 'It was two strikes. But then things started to pick up around March this year and we saw there was still true interest. The chances of breaking even this year are pretty good - but I don't know about a profit. Even if we don't break even, it's not necessarily the end of Rockit. The brand has grown, and more people know about it. We rode the first one out and that was the hardest one.

'It's a yearly struggle and for a couple of months after the last two festivals I felt pretty empty because I felt as though I didn't actually deliver the goods - financially or whatever. This year, the people who are involved are the people who really want to do it. They're not thinking about the money so much. They just want to do it for Hong Kong and the people who come to Rockit.'

Securing The Brian Jonestown Massacre should be enough of a reward in many ways, with the band riding a wave of popularity after the documentary Dig!, which chronicles their seven-year odyssey with fellow alternative band The Dandy Warhols.

Past festival highlights have included Japanese retro queens The 5.6.7.8's, Aussie noisemakers Regurgitator and British space rockers The Cooper Temple Clause, but for Jayawardena, the best thing has been witnessing the birth of a rock festival in Hong Kong and 'being there right from the beginning, when nobody gave a crap, to the point where people are almost expecting a good show and expecting Rockit to happen at this time of year'.

Rather than focusing on the boost Rockit has given to Hong Kong's music scene, some media reports have concentrated on its financial losses. Jayawardena says he's resigned to it. 'We're an island of banks and people have grown up with money being the most important thing here,' he says. 'Whereas in other countries, arts and culture are more important - they have different priorities. But people are here to make money and if you're involved in something that doesn't necessarily make money, then all of a sudden it's less important.'

Hongkongers who are already converted to the cause have long cast envious glances at countries such as Singapore and Japan, which have healthier environments for live music events. Why shouldn't an event similar to Fuji Rock succeed in Hong Kong?

'We have people that have a great appreciation of music here too, but it's just a matter of reaching them,' says Jayawardena. 'One of our biggest problems is that time that could be spent reaching out to people is being spent on dealing with the government. We just organised a show in Macau - we didn't have to bother with noise complaints, we didn't have to bother with licensing. Somebody else organises all that for you because it's seen as being good for Macau. But with something like Rockit - that's so obviously good for Hong Kong - we're still having to prove to the authorities that it really needs to happen, and that's a time-consuming process.

'Some departments are more supportive than others. The police and the Environmental Protection Department understand what we're doing, but it'd be nice to see some help from tourism officials. The people that have these marketing jobs have never been to a festival, they don't know what it's like to be a rock fan. All they know is Disneyland because somebody said that was cool.'

The festival was always going to be a gamble, but Jayawardena says the idea was to provide an alternative to Canto-pop. So far, that goal has been achieved. A standout moment of the first festival was the drummer in Japanese band Electric Eel Shock playing naked (for which he was arrested), and last year's box-wearing local act Malfunction were about as far from the Twins as it's possible to get.

'We would actually consider more commercial acts,' Jayawardena says. 'But we can't afford them. They'd have to be really good though - the closest we've ever got to finding a commercially viable group that can actually play their instruments are probably Soler this year.'

Rumours have circulated for months about the big names that were supposed to make it on the bill, but have dropped off the radar. 'Hong Kong's never going to be a priority unless things like Rockit make a name for themselves and become a tour stop. It has to be feasible for the bands.'

Fortunately, the festival has proved feasible enough this year for a handful of overseas artists, including Brazilian drum'n'bass DJ Marky and Dutch techno maestro Joris Voorn. But by far the biggest buzz surrounds The Brian Jonestown Massacre. More than 60 members have come and gone over the years, reportedly because of frontman Anton Newcombe's erratic behaviour, and their live shows have often been punctuated by punch-ups - between the band members themselves, and with the audience.

'I think Anton will behave himself,' Jayawardena says. 'I hear that he's clean - but even if he's not and causes trouble, it's all fun, a part of being involved in a festival. Every year there's always some drama somewhere - from someone getting off the plane demanding a load of drugs, to people walking off the stage, Electric Eel Shock playing naked ... It's a festival. It'd be boring if everything went smoothly and there wasn't any drama.'