Meredith 2011 was a fantastic experience. It was my first Meredith and with any luck, not the last.
Why is Meredith such a hot ticket? Firstly, tickets are very hard to come by.
The only way to get one is by entering a yearly ballot where names are drawn at random. That means that there’s good chance that you may miss out. There are a few rounds following this, and finally a limited amount released to a couple of stores.
Once you’re in, it’s the most friendly and exciting atmosphere. Everyone, including the staff, is laid back. People share their stuff and are always looking out for each other.
It really is the best festival I have been to, and I wasn’t even on drugs. In fact, I barely got tipsy the whole weekend. That’s how good it was.
Let’s start with some of the bands that played: Cash Savage and the Last Drinks, Frank Fairfield, Grinderman, Eagle and the Worm, Big Freedia, The Rechords, Adalita, Icehouse and Explosions in the Sky to name a few. Even if you had never heard of some of them, it doesn’t matter because they all played great sets and were hugely entertaining.
Personally I loved Grinderman and what a shame it was to hear the almighty Nick Cave announce they were splitting up.
We were then meant to watch the total lunar eclipse straight after, however this was eclipsed itself by thick cloud cover. Two disappointments. But the festival carried on in great spirit and continued well into the early morning.
Another highlight all the way from New Orleans was Big Freedia (free-da). She came on at 2.15am on Sunday and bounced the crowd up into a frenzy. Her set came complete with extreme close up shots of her dancers shaking their big booties – one for the guys. Fantastic high-energy beats and flamboyance galore.
Meredith has only one stage set in a natural amphitheatre, so there’s no rushing around trying to reach multiple stages and no clashes of bands that you want to see. This all encourages a relaxed vibe.
The only thing I was dreading about attending Meredith was the thought of three days of Portaloos – we all know how disgusting and dirty they can get. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Meredith had proper wooden toilet stalls that were not only roomy, but best of all they were clean, always stocked with toilet paper and environmentally friendly. They were world’s best practice waterless composting toilets. Additionally virtually everything was recycled, including scraps from food stalls and bins. It was so good to see a major festival being so green in so many ways, proving that it can be done on a large scale.
Spending three days at Meredith made me realize that you can have an all ages festival that has amazing music, beautiful views, friendly people and is as green as possible – minus the usual knobs.
In fact, Meredith has a ‘no dick-head’ policy which aims to prevent dick-heads and dickhead behaviour from occurring. No posers or dickheads allowed = Heaven for the rest of us.
Can’t wait for next year.
Mia Gaitanidis
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