Already a week into 2016 and NYE celebrations feel like a decade ago. Sat at my desk gazing wistfully out the office window- quite the contrast to where I was this time last week. Surrounded by world class DJs, beautiful people, all of the glitter, glorious sunshine and a bloody good scran; let me take you back to Lost Paradise:
An hour north of Sydney; just far enough to feel a million miles away from the hectic city buzz, yet an easy enough drive (well, at least for those of us who don’t have a stretch hummer on speed dial), and tucked deep within the beautiful forest-scape of the Glenworth Valley; a group of like-minded revellers gathered for the mind, body and soul experience that was Lost Paradise.
The 3-day boutique camping fest brought together a stellar line up of performers including Jamie XX, Four Tet, Jon Hopkins (more on them in a bit), across three modest but vibrant stages, combined with good food, yoga, art, a circus, mermaids, inflatables and some pretty masculine looking geishas.
THE PLACE
I arrived mid afternoon on the Wednesday; a day in to the festival, which meant missing all the traffic and arriving fresh whilst everyone else was in full flow. This also meant that the GA camping was full so I had to set up in the overspill area alongside an eclectic mix of the artists, volunteers, and late people like me. This turned out to be an ideal spot, upstream of the creek which ran directly through the festival, there was heaps of space with people playing communal cricket, sharing gazebos and tales of the previous night’s debauchery.
Whilst I ‘roughed it’ with a pop-up, my fellow festival comrades had all checked in to the glamping area, so I did manage to get a sneaky peek at how the other half live. There is something to be said about arriving at a festival with your accommodation already sorted for you- although I do feel it’s cheating a bit (not bitter, not bitter at all). You could choose from the basic standard frame tents with standing room that came with camping beds (living the dream), or go super-posh and upgrade to luxury Yurt which slept up to 6, and optional bedding.
Still, whichever tent you end up in, be it in a 2-man KMart job or a luxe pre-erected teepee, that canvas becomes hotter than the sun as soon as the rays start glaring over the hilltops so time to head down to the main festival site.
During the day time, Lost Paradisian’s basked in the sun, sipping on fresh coconuts, and enjoying the sunshine filled tunes from the Paradise Club. I’d like to be able to tell you that I rose with the dawn at 8am each morning to partake in a spot of meditation followed by Vinyasa Yoga, replenished with a green Kale smoothie and then honed my trapeze swing in the circus workshop in the Shambala tent. I can’t, but the fact that I had the opportunity to do all of this and more, is a wonderful thing
Lost Paradise is a family-friendly festival, not that there were hundred’s of kids running around but you did encounter the occasional mini-LP. There was a whole family dedicated area, and full credit to the parents as all children were impeccably behaved and seemed to having a whole load of fun.
THE ACTS
So Lost Paradise was more than just a music festival, but you can’t detract away from such an outstanding line up. Although I was gutted to have missed Angus & Julia Stone on the first night; Jamie XX proved himself to be every bit the headliner he was on the Wednesday, with a solid, uplifting set which had the people in the next to tent to me hollering ‘Oh My Gosh’ until the early hours. Other notable acts were Four Tet, Daniel Avery, Motor City Drum Ensemble were bloody brilliant and the ever glamourous Crazy P who provided a much needed injection of disco house music to the glitter-laden, lycra-sporting crowd.
Sydney’s Hot Dub Time Machine absolutely smashed it on the Arcadia stage for the New Year countdown, quality fun that was exactly on point for the end of the year, and indeed the festival.
WHAT TO WEAR
All the glitter. No seriously I’m still finding glitter. Fancy dress at festivals is pretty much a given these days and Lost Paradise peeps went in and went hard . The theme was loosely Back2Nature and there were definitely some creative interpretations- I really wish I had more photos! Check out the official instagram as it was a highly visual affair.
OTHER BITS
Toilet facilities: IMPORTANT. Often the downside of a festival, and the bit that no one wants to remember. Although I would have said they could have done with a few more, they were cleaned on the hour, and generally maintained to a high standard. Hats off to the cleaning crew for sticking out such a shit job (yeah I went there).
The non-BYO aspect is an interesting one; I’ve been to festivals all around the world and this was the first I had ever been to which didn’t allow people to bring alcohol into the camping area. With ticket prices at the more premium end it seemed a little bit unfair to then charge people up to $15 a drink. On the upside of this, was a nifty little incentive where people were rewarded $1 back on to their wristbands for every used can returned and recycled, in-keeping with the eco-vibes and also helped to keep the place pretty tidy.
Being only the second year, there were a few inevitable teething problems involving wristbands and the availability of set times – no programmes were handed out so these could have done with being in a more obvious position, but to be honest this didn’t really seem to have a huge impact on the overwhelmingly good time that everyone was having.
Lost Paradise, is a laid back festival for people who truly love festivals. If you understand what I mean by that, then this festival is for you. Would I do it again? Hell yeah. What an absolutely cracking start to 2016; well done Lost Paradise, well done indeed. More of the same please. MR
What: Lost Paradise
Where: 69 Cooks Road, Glenworth Valley NSW
Follow: www.facebook.com/LostParadiseAU
@lostparadiseau
Leave a Reply