Over the New Year period Peats Ridge Music Festival ran for it’s 5th Year. Held in Glenworth Valley, an hour north of Sydney, the festival had all the usual elements, an eclectic mix of artists, sounds catering many tastes, the bars & ‘junk food’ outlets, the mud on sun drenched days and people.
It differs from the rest with its efforts in sustainability, its attempt to grow organically by holding back on mainstream advertising & its focus on showcasing art.
Music
As a festival it ticked all the boxes with stand out performances from Lamb (although a little run down after weather induced travel delays), Sarah Blasko, The Bird & Mama Kin on the main stage with an amazing backdrop of the hills surrounding the valley. The Chai Temple, Tiki Bar, Dub Tent, Vic’s Disco & LyreBird entertained, grooved & moved all those dancing. And the workshops filled the void with yoga, drumming, capoeira and laughter.
Sustainability
The environmental efforts of the festival were a little disappointing. Maybe this was noticed by myself as I continue to look for ways to integrate these practices into society. The overall message became a political lecture from Blue King Brown at New Year to bring in 2010 & a smelly inconvenience with the toilets ~ sulo bins with a scoop of saw dust for each poop contained within standard frame a block of loos: the concept was great but the lack of maintenance destroyed the good intention. This isn’t to say I did not appreciate all the work that went into creating this, I can see the intention but know there is still room for development.
I attended a few of the workshops at the Eco Living village and found people very passionate in what they were talking about, but no big push for action after. I also heard disapointment from people attending, at the general society lack of hunger to do something about these issues. Come on guys, its up to us, innovative creative people, to find ways that living sustainably becomes a way of life rather than simply an inconvenience. All food for thought.
Thanks
Peats Ridge Festival was one of the funnest, most fulfilling & friendly ways I have ever spent New Years.
The organisation was well executed (apart form waste management inc loos) and the vibe was friendly & open. This Festival has the potential to become a landmark event that connects those in the community passionate about the same issues who are also creative, in a friendly way…..See you in December 2010!
Wish list for next year:
- Meditation tent -non religious, just simply to be in the moment, away from stress of every day life.
- Focus on nutritional food sold (other than organic fruit market), perhaps workshop on this.
- Sustability entrepreneurs: opportunity for people in the space to showcase what they are doing. Non-commercial & needs to be done selectively but connects with right people.
- Development of community during year – noticed email addresses were collected but what about Facebook group for those who attended the eco-living workshops?
- Another workshop tent with more information on continuing classes after the festival.
