Often hailed as the cultural capital of South America, Buenos Aires is known for not only its European architecture, but the nightlife, entertainment and events that takes place amongst it all. Two weeks ago, reports broke that five people had died and a further five were hospitalised after suffering drug overdoses at one of those such events, the Time Warp festival. In response to the deaths, the Argentinian capital’s mayor has announced that the city will halt issuing permits for major electronic music festivals for the foreseeable future. Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, said the measure would remain in effect until a law to prevent drug abuse during such events is passed.
The festival, which originated in Germany and was taking place in Buenos Aires for the third year in a row, is just one of the latest events where suspected drug overdoses have resulted in hospitalisation and death. The event’s second day was cancelled following the deaths. Rightfully so, officials are frightened at the very real prospect of their citizens dying at raves and festivals, but a knee-jerk reaction like banning all electronic music festivals is unlikely to end well.
Closer to home, a 15-year-old was hospitalised over the weekend following a suspected overdose at Groovin The Moo‘s Maitland event. These incidents are growing in frequency and severity, with seven deaths in the past twelve months at Australian festivals alone. It all indicates that something needs to change, but a change that sees events banned prohibition-era style isn’t the kind that’s needed right now. What is needed is a greater access to education around drugs as well as the introduction of pill testing at festivals. A ban would no doubt have an outcome that is in direct contradiction to keeping people safe. There is no doubt in our minds that it would result in the electronic scene being forced back underground with less supervision and fewer safety measures around drugs and drug use.
Howl & Echoes is a major advocate for drug education and regulation. Drug testing at events like music festivals should be legally implemented as soon as possible to assist in avoiding future drug-related incidents and injuries. Harm reduction should be the top priority for all those in law enforcement and health services, and we will continue to do what we can to raise awareness and understanding of these issues.
Read more:
The Reality of Drugs At Festivals
Drugs: We Don’t Need No Education – Or Do We?
We Really, Really Need Pill Testing At Music Festivals. Here’s Why.
Image: Billboard
Following another death at a music festival over the weekend, there is more evidence to back up the claim that testing pills at events is far more effective than a visible presence of police and sniffer dogs at parties and festivals. The death of the 23-year-old woman which is suspected (though not yet confirmed) to be drug-related occurred at the Dragon Dreaming Festival in Wee Jasper in New South Wales on Sunday.
Police had made their concerns regarding the event’s safety clear, having put forward formal objections in the lead up to the festival. Superintendent Zoran Dzevlan has since stated that police will push for the 2016 event to be cancelled. Over the course of the weekend, there were 78 drug detections, 20 positive random tests from festivals goers exiting the event and three individuals charged with supply. The death of the young woman came after the festival announced that punters could expect police presence upon arrival.
These deaths are clear indications that Australia’s approach and attitudes towards drugs, particularly at events, needs to change. As one doctor told the Medical Republic, Australia has “an uncanny requirement to prove things locally.” While drug testing services have has had proven positive preventative effects in other countries, ours is lagging behind, refusing to start similar initiatives as more people engage in high-risk behaviours like pre-loading and mass consumption before stepping through event gates and purchasing pills that may not actually be what they think they’re buying.
Additionally, the sniffer dog program costs the state of NSW over $800 000 every year in training and staffing, despite the fact that 73% of people identified by the dogs are not carrying drugs. If they are, they’re usually small amounts of cannabis. The testing of drugs is not a “surrender on the war on drugs” but rather provides law enforcement with information to link pills responsible for deaths to their manufacturers, ultimately giving them the capabilities to better protect punters.
For more information about how you can stay safer if and when you decide to take drugs, especially at music events, read this.
Splendour in The Grass is over, the mud has been washed off, and a post-festival come down is imminent. There’s no need to stress though, while you may be spending your time revelling in the twitter beef the festival left behind (Azealia Banks, we’re talking about you), there’s many more, lesser known festivals that you can plan ahead for.
Burning Seed
You may be familiar with Burning Man, the weeklong annual event held in San Francisco. The festival is possibly the most hardcore doof in the world, taking over an entire city for its duration, and now Australia has found its counterpart.
Burning Seed is held in the Matong State Forest, NSW. Running from Wednesday, 30th September to Monday, 5th October, it’s creators describe it as ‘an experimental gathering dedicated to creativity, collaboration and a gifting community- conceived, built, run and returned to nothing again by YOU’.
While those new to Burning Seed may consider it like any other festival, it is much more than that. The event seeks to act as an outlet for punters creativity, imagination and ideas.
You can purchase tickets here.
Chi Wow Wah Town
One hour out of Melbourne, Chi Wow Wah Town offers cutting edge music of the techno persuasion and art for those who prefer their festival to be a little more creative.
The festival has hosted techno acts such as Uone, Katie Drover and David Mayer.
An annual event held each February, this one is definitely not to miss.
Let Them Eat Cake
Held at the Werribee mansion on new years day, Let Them Eat Cake caters for anyone looking to extend their NYE festivities. The festival has drawn many big acts to their festival, most notably Kanye West-collaborator and serious up and comer Cashmere Cat.
Each stage doubles as an artwork, all of them are unique, and become more intriguing with each year. If you’re into art, deep-house, and wearing a bin bag over your clothes because it’s that wet, LTEC is the festival for you.
Strawberry Fields
Truly one of the gems in the Australian festival scene, Strawberry Fields, draws one of the most eclectic crowds that I have ever seen. With that said, the festival comes with a carefree attitude, while the crowd is varied in demographics, there are no problems that come with.
You can purchase tickets here.
Festival of The Sun
Held at the seaside of Port Macquarie, Festival of The Sun was a lesser-known festival that is quickly becoming more prominent on our radar. With only one single, intimate stage, and approximately 3000 attendees, it is truly a boutique festival. Old setlist’s have boasted acts such as Violent Soho, and The Jezabels, it is clear that there is a lot more to come for this event.
You can purchase tickets here.
As FOMO well and truly sets in about this weekend’s festivities happening in Palm Springs right now, Coachella is currently underway. Whether you’ve sworn off social media for the whole weekend to ease the pain of not being there, or you’re trawling through Twitter feeds to keep up with what’s going down, Coachella knows what you’re going through – and they’re here to help.
Returning this year is the Live Stream, so you can watch everything from the comfort of your own home. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but I will be glued to this stream over the next two weekends.
Today sees the likes of Porter Robinson, Tame Impala, Keys n Krates, Action Bronson, Azealia Banks, Lykke Li, Nero, Todd Terje & The Olsons, and The War on Drugs. Tomorrow will have Jack White, Flosstradamus, Alt-J, Hozier, Run The Jewels, Tyler, The Creator and FKA twigs whilst Sunday will feature St Vincent, ODESZA, Jamie xx, Kygo, Florence & The Machine and Mac DeMarco. God. Damn.
The feed also features a live Instagram and Twitter feed, in case that wasn’t enough to tip you over the edge. Click HERE to submerge yourself in all things Coachella now!
Do normal people actually use these?
If you do and were planning to bring a selfie stick to Coachella or Lollapalooza this year, you can’t. They have been included on both of their lists of banned items on their websites.
Lollapalooza classed the selfie stick as a GoPro attachment, while Coachella, simply says “No selfie sticks / Narcissistics.” They have done this in an effort to stop the unauthorized recording of performances over people’s heads, as well as because they’re just really annoying to others. Fair enough.
We can only assume (and hope) that many other festivals throughout the year will share the same ban.
Sorry kids, you’ll have to leave your toys at home and just enjoy the music.
Words by Jack Colquhoun
Having already announced last month that Morrissey was due to perform, today Vivid Sydney unveiled their entire schedule for this year’s event. Spanning over 18 days between May and June, Sydney’s festival of art, light and music is set to be absolutely massive this year.
This morning, huge international acts like Sufjan Stevens, TV On the Radio and Bill Callahan were announced, alongside locals legends The Drones, The Preatures and plenty more. Vivid Sydney is arguably more electronically oriented, and so it’s no surprise that this year’s roster of DJs and electronic artists is absolutely huge.
This year’s Vivid welcomes the debut performance of UK legend Squarepusher, mega mega hype! Big stuff from home too, with Future Classic set to host two outdoor shows to celebrate their tenth anniversary, made up of almost their entire current roster. Wave Racer, Flight Facilities, George Maple, Touch Sensitive and many more are playing, topped off by none other than Flume in his only Australian performances for 2015. There’s a bunch of parties getting hosted by Plastic World, Astral People, Elefant Traks, Oxford Art Factory, GoodGod Smallclub, and tonnes many more as well.
Anybody who has ever been to Vivid (or really anyone who lives in/has visited Sydney during the festival) knows how exciting it is. From the art and theatre to the gorgeous lights, to the musical delicacies listen above, this is undoubtedly Sydney’s best event. Don’t miss it.
Vivid will take over Circular Quay and the Opera House from the 22nd of May till the 8th of June.
Check out the Vivid website for all the details on this year’s festival.
It seems the days of Stereosonic being a two day music festival are over. Well, for now at least.
The two day festival concept was Stereosonic’s way of celebrating their fifth birthday in 2013, but the party was so darn good that they thought they would do it all over again in 2014. But the party’s over and it’s back to being a single day festival for Stereosonic 2015.
Stereo have already hinted at a “killer line-up” for 2015 although it won’t be released until July. Ticket prices, of course, won’t hurt your wallet as much as they did last year with prices starting at under $130 for all cities.
Venues will be announced after Easter while ticketing details will be announced in July. What you can do in the meantime is mark in your diary what date you’ll be leaving free for Stereosonic 2015:
STEREOSONIC 2015 DATES:
Sat 28 Nov – Sydney
Sun 29 Nov – Perth
Sat 05 Dec – Adelaide
Sat 05 Dec – Melbourne
Sun 06 Dec – Brisbane
From the dates above you can see Melbourne and Adelaide share the same date – don’t worry, these cities won’t miss out on any artists. The artists will be travelling between both cities on the day so they can perform in both Melbourne and Adelaide on the same day.
As for Stereosonic going back to its original one day festival format in 2015 – who knows, maybe they’ll give us two days of partying when they turn 10.
It’s that time of year again. The smell of freshly mown grass, the burden of shelling out money for petrol as you motor down the highway, the painstaking decision of whether to wear a jumper or not – the time is almost upon us, the Regional Festival Groovin’ The Moo begins its tour in the next few months.
Depending on location, its spaced out, not-too-busy setting coupled with surprisingly fantastic line-ups sets the perfect scene for a laid-back day of indie music. GTM remains my favourite don’t-have-to-spend-my-life-savings festival (unlike Splendour for example).
The tour travels round several regional parts of the country, hitting Oakbank, Bunbury, Bendigo, Canberra, Maitland and Townsville. Should Canberra, my local destination, be insulted that GTM, a so-called regional festival, stops at the Nation’s Capital? Perhaps, but don’t speak too loud – its pretty much the best thing that comes to Canberra anyway.
But regardless of whether you frequent Bendigo or Maitland, if you’re a Triple J enthusiast, this year is a goldmine of talent both old and new. Its hard to know what is more appealing – the thought of Wolfmother belting out Joker and the Thief, or The Flight Facilities caressing the audience with a rendition of Claire de Lune.
One of the best Australian live acts, Ball Park Music is also making an appearance (it will be epic I absolutely guarantee it), as are San Cisco who are fresh off dropping their second energy infused album. One of the more surprising acts, Charlie XCX, the pop princess who combined with our own Iggy Azalea for Fancy will be heading over with a bag full of carefree hits. Festival frequenters The Preatures, Saskwatch and Sticky Fingers add yet more hype and if rap is your cup of tea, then you can feast on Aussie hip-hop with Hilltop Hoods who never seem to stop producing hits, Aussie youngster Tkay Maidza and of course, A$AP Ferg. If that isn’t enough, Meg Mac and Broods among others will be hitting the road as well.
With a ridiculous line-up like that, and one of the best festival vibes out there, get your indie outfit sorted, choose your destination and get driving.
Line-up:
A$AP Ferg (USA)
Ball Park Music
Broods (NZ)
Carmada
Charli XCX (UK)
The Delta Riggs
DMA’s
Flight Facilities
Hermitude
Hilltop Hoods
Hot Dub Time Machine
Meg Mac
Northlane
One Day
Peace (UK)
Peaches (CAN)
The Preatures
RL Grime (USA)
San Cisco
Saskwatch
Sticky Fingers
Tkay Maidza
Wolfmother
You Me At Six (UK)
Dates and venues:
Saturday 25 April – Oakbank Racecourse, Oakbank SA (ANZAC Day)
Sunday 26 April – Hay Park, Bunbury WA (ANZAC Long Weekend)
Saturday 2 May – Prince Of Wales Showground, Bendigo VIC
Sunday 3 May – University of Canberra, Canberra ACT
Saturday 9 May – Maitland Showground, Maitland NSW
Sunday 10 May – Murray Sports Complex, Townsville QLD
Grab tickets from:
Good news everyone!
Marmalade Skies Festival is back on! Punters despairing the cancellation of the originally slated December date can rest easy, with the festival now taking place on Friday 10th through to Sunday 12th April in the Southern Tablelands, Goulburn.
The rescheduled event is featuring a pretty sweet lineup, with etcetc Music hosting Friday night and including the likes of Kilter, Acaddamy, Flamingo, Godwolf and Luke Million.
If what the organisers are saying is true, then Marmalade Skies is going to be a festival like no other. Crowdfunded on Pozible, the event is uniquely curated with its audience in mind with a focus on amazing music from local artists, all while showcasing the beautiful NSW Southern Highlands. Another bonus is the BYO aspect, which means there’ll be no pesky security guards combing through your possessions like a bloodhound.
Supposed to be held back in December, the original event was cancelled due to a high fire risk in the region. A refund option was available to festival-goers not willing to wait out for the new date, however those still holding onto their tickets should have received an email with all the new details.
Tickets are $135 dollars for 10-12 April, camping included. You can purchase them here.
So grab your tickets and get ready for what the organisers are self-describing as a ‘two day country house party’.
Words by Erin McWhinney
The line-up for the third annual Big Pineapple Music Festival has been announced, and it’s pretty epic. The festival is proudly all-Australian and will this year be headlined by John Butler Trio, The Jezabels and Violent Soho. The new Sunshine Coast site boasts three bigger and better stages, grander views and plenty of camping space, not to mention the festival’s namesake if you want to stand and thoughtfully admire a giant fruit between bands. The organisers claim to have fixed all issues from previous years and guarantee an awesome time at this year’s event.
It’s all going down on Saturday 30th May and features:
John Butler Trio
The Jezabels
Violent Soho
Jebediah
Thundamentals
Dune Rats
Coin Banks
Sarah Howells
Timberwolf
The Belligerents
Dallas Frasca
Drawcard
Karl S Williams
Sahara Beck
Dubarray
The Dawn Chorus
The Hi-Boys
In2nation
Early bird and members’ pre-sale tickets are now available. General public tickets go on sale Tuesday 10th Feb at 9am. Hit up the official website for deets and tix.
