As for new music, that was on healthy display: the season kicked off with an oddly out-of-character choral shortie by Judith Weir, Stars, Night, Music and Light, while later offerings ranged from a new piano concerto for Barry Douglas by Kevin Volans, and the UK premiere of a flute concerto by the 102-year-old Elliott Carter, to the Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra by Gabriel Prokofiev, grandson of Sergei — tackled by the National Youth Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski with an unusual Proms soloist, DJ Switch. 

The Proms have been varied, controversial, divisive, unusual, fun. Above all, they've fired passions consistently as they rarely have before. Arguments raged on Twitter and Facebook, around the websites, across the blogs. The Horrible Histories free family Prom was full of glee from start to finish. The Gothic Symphony sent its dissenters scuttling for cover as the Havergal Brian anoraks counter-charged. A five-star review of the Venezuelans drew protests from Mahler purists: oh dear, the Ländler was too slow! Cue return protests from those who'd adored it. As it happens, the Ländler was too slow, but most of us didn't really mind: the point of the evening ran deeper. 

Did you know that people care this much about classical music? They do. And in a world full of cyber-chatter, talking about what you care about has never been easier — or more important in spreading the message about its existence. Talking points at the Proms have been the festival's best marketing tool in years.

Whether the Proms will have the funds to continue at such a consistently high pitch in a few years' time is something we don't yet know; with 20 per cent cuts mooted across the BBC, it seems dubious. But it's also too easy to be thrilled by wall-to-wall Proms coverage, including plenty of TV, and forget that it takes up less than two months. A good Proms season is no excuse for BBC TV to leave classical music out in the cold once the summer is over. 

Radio 3's listening figures are up by a healthy 17 per cent year on year; at present the station seems to be doing an admirable job, harnessing galloping technology to help its cause and renewing its commitment to regular live broadcasts. But minimal music on TV aside from the Proms risks marginalising matters all over again during the other ten months of the year. 

And another thing: ironically, the thrills of the guest orchestras have left the Proms' home team — the BBC Symphony Orchestra — struggling to get out of their shadows. The BBCSO is chock-full of superb musicians; but what it needs now is a new principal conductor who can really set them ablaze. An announcement about the next person for the post is expected before long. I can't help wondering if it is only a coincidence that the 2011 Last Night will be conducted by Ed Gardner, the charismatic thirty-something music director of English National Opera.

This Proms season has proved that every concert can be an occasion. Now let's make it so for the rest of the year too.