Peats Ridge festival – best start to a new year

It was a battle of wills. My friend who was visiting Australia over the Summer desperately wanted to watch the fireworks over Sydney Harbour. They have such a huge international reputation and she thought it was the quintessential Sydney New Year’s Eve experience. I desperately wanted to go to Peats Ridge festival. Fireworks don’t really excite me at all. I used to love Firecracker night as a kid, but that was when we got to light them ourselves around a bonfire in the backyard. But watching all those pretty lights exploding? I’m not interested in watching the spectacle. I want to be it.

For me what better way to start the new year than three days hanging out with friends in a beautiful bush setting. Away from the concrete jungle, swimming in the river, dancing all night, the perfect break to clear the head.

I lobbied hard, sending my friend YouTube videos of drunken yobbos around the harbour watching the fireworks and others of scenes of dancing in the Glenworth Valley. Eventually I won her over, so we were off to Peats Ridge.

Without a doubt, the highlight of my festival was dancing like a maniac on new Year’s Eve to Bomba, a funk and reggae group, starring the drummer from the John Butler Trio. They played a lot of old school reggae that I loved and the energy was positive and upbeat. After getting everyone truly hooked on their vibe, Bomba instructed everyone in the audience to turn their backs to the stage and crouch down on the ground. Then we had to jump up turn around and dance like crazy, letting go of all the negativity of the past year. It sounds incredibly hippy to anyone not there, but after three days of Peats Ridge, my cynical city soul had melted just a bit, and it was just what I needed.

Freqnasty had some great samples of Rage Against the Machine and Bob Marley, some of my favourite revolutionary musicians. It was just such a massive shame that the video behind him was screening some of the most misogynist images of a woman’s crotch dancing for the camera. I couldn’t stay and enjoy dancing while watching that.

The Dub Shack was consistently awesome for having a good dance. I also loved popping into the Disco Tent and the Hawaii themed tent. But from me, the prize for the best space in the festival goes undoubtedly to the Land of the Hopeless Utopians. The lifesize chess game was a classic hit there, and also dancing to Mashy Pete’s incredible Eastern European gypsy beats. I also made my first ever stencil and silk screen print at Mashy Pete’s workshop at his new gypsy caravan.

We were amused to say the least when dancing right in front of the stage for Watussi’s set, when the singer stripped fully naked and started dancing around the stage baring all. It just made me laugh that he is so incredibly lacking in self-consciousness and inhibition.

I even woke super early one morning to do a yoga class, a great way to start the day if you can drag yourself out of bed.

It really was sad to leave at the and of it all.