It may be only a short drive from Sydney, but Playground Weekender feels worlds away. Returning to Del Rio Resort on the Hawkesbury River for the fourth time in 2010, the camping festival attracts some of the merriest revellers you’re likely to find.
With a nine-hole golf course to pitch your tent on and a come-one-come-all vibe, it’s little surprise the Weekender inspires such devotion. As part of FL’s Festival Awards series, we found out how it all came together from organiser Mel Dymott.
One of Playground Weekender’s greatest assets is its location, but it presents its challenges as well, right?
Definitely. It’s essentially an island, so our patrons arrive by ferry. With the help of Qjump this year, we’ve devised a system where patrons can choose to buy a three-day or four-day ticket – depending on what they choose, they’re directed to one of three car-parks and consulted on roughly what ferry time they’d want. It’s to try and get people thinking about what they’re going to do this year.
The festival won the Crowd and Atmosphere award in the 2008 Festival Awards. How did you guys set out to create that special atmosphere that Playground has?
The venue itself is, as you say, really special. It’s such a beautiful setting, and you leave the city stress when they leave Sydney. Actually a lot of people are travelling from interstate as well. I think arriving on the ferry and being there for three days, not 10 hours, makes a difference. There’s fancy dress on the Saturday, but people stay dressed up all Sunday too! You lose your inhibitions I think. We have an older demographic as well, but it’s encouraging that younger people are coming through.
The festival market is very crowded, and often it seems festivals try to one-up each other with line-ups rather than an experience. I guess Playground has a different approach?
Yes, when you walk around the campsite in the day, a lot of people are just chilling out. They kind of pace themselves through the day. We’ve never had any situations – touch wood – with violence. Our crowd is really relaxed and beautiful. Everyone looks out for each other. Now people have become good friends as a result of meeting at Playground. Patrons always come back every year in growing numbers.
Did you feel that kind of festival experience was lacking in New South Wales when you devised Playground Weekender?
Definitely. Obviously there is Peats Ridge Festival and Splendour, but there was something lacking in the summer. I think the fancy dress is almost as big a factor as the line-up. You could almost say that the fancy dress is our headliner!
But the line-up itself also plays a part in creating the atmosphere. It must be a fun challenge to book acts you know suit that Playground feel.
Yes, it is. Especially with the competition, luckily to date we haven’t had any huge headliners. We’ve always gone for quality – and quantity – over the three days. It has been a very English line-up to date, but we are trying to vary that with 2010’s line-up. We want to make it even more diverse. Our punters really vote with their feet – we get our punters saying, – œBring back LTJ Bukem, bring more drum – œn bass, more hip hop’. So we just have to make sure it flows really well.
As well as extending to four days next year, I imagine there are other changes in store?
Yeah, we’re going to move the cinema area this year. On the Thursday, we’ll have one stage and the swimming pool open to ease people in. We’ll open up the Big Top on Thursday and we’re thinking about having dance music there until, say, midnight when it will turn into the cinema. If you’re arriving there from work at eight or nine o’clock, there’s time to set up a tent and the bars will still be open.
We’re going to add a couple of smaller stages too, and various different fun elements. We’re also bringing back the cabaret. The music focus is still strong, but with people there for four days you have to keep them entertained. I think the thing with a camping festival is that a lot of the fun happens after the music stops.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in putting on the festivals?
It took us about two years to find the festival site. We did have a site down in Berry which the council said was fine to use and we had a couple of township meetings. Half the town stood up at the meeting and said we’d divide Berry in two. We wouldn’t have had a long-term site there, so we started looking north.
At Del Rio Resort, we have to deal with four councils because of the way the river swings round. If you go to Centennial Park, for example, they’ve already got a license so you just have to deal with the governing body.
Also with the local police as well. They’re obviously very country-based, but they’ve been very helpful and we’ve had to educate them along the way as well. Now they’ve seen how great our crowd is. I think they thought we were bringing AC/DC to Wiseman’s Ferry, which is why we had some issues the first year.
Have you been happy with how it has come along from year to year?
Definitely. The councils are on our side now and the police are becoming more relaxed in their approach with our patrons. We’re much happier now. In the first year, the police wanted us to have our bars in cages and we had to really fight with them and say, – œIf we do that in the first year, we won’t be able to have a second Playground Weekender.’ Also, although it has been doubling in size each year, it’s growing organically.
What have been some of the standout moments from the past three years where everything has come together?
In the first year, it was definitely seeing the effort for the fancy dress. People had been telling us it wouldn’t catch on because punters can’t be bothered. We were amazed by how many people had made their own costumes. Walking through the campsite, with kangaroos lolling about in the sunshine – we just couldn’t believe we’d pulled it off. Andy [Rigby, fellow Playground founder] and I always get goosebumps when you see one of your favourite acts performing, so seeing Ian Brown and Primal Scream was a standout moment.
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Article photo by green_pez
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