Reviving the Australian neo-bush festival scene

The Australian music festival landscape has transformed dramatically over the past three decades. The roots of modern Australian festival culture can be traced to the early 1990s. Counter-culture was thriving across the globe, and music was the catalyst. The UK's free party movement was exploding, and Australia responded with the 'doof'. Electronic music enthusiasts began gathering for underground parties in remote locations across the country, characterised by psychedelic trance music and anti-commercial values (St John, 2001).

The mid-1990s saw pioneering events like ConFest and Rainbow Serpent establish themselves as bridges between underground doof culture and more organised festival formats. Rainbow Serpent, beginning in 1997, maintained strong connections to psytrance culture while gradually expanding its scope and production values (Luckman, 2003). Fast-forward to 2024, where countercultural gatherings in remote bushland have evolved into multi-million-dollar commercial enterprises drawing international headliners and corporate sponsorship.

The scene has experienced significant challenges in recent years. We have seen multiple high-profile cancellations and financial failures. According to Creative Australia's 2024 Soundcheck report, promoters are grappling with rising operational costs, lack of available funding, increasing insurance costs, and cancellation risks due to extreme weather events.

One finding from this report really caught my attention: The Australian festival market is aging. The median age bracket for ticket sales shifted from 18-25 pre-covid, to 26-29 post-covid. While the rising cost of living has had an undeniable impact on consumer behaviour, an aging market may also be the result of a disruption in cultural transmission.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a significant cultural rupture in festival participation, with implications that extend far beyond temporary closures. A critical "missing link" generation has emerged – young people who would typically have been initiated into festival culture during their late teens and early twenties between 2020-2022. This missing link may be particularly detrimental to the underground electronic scene, largely showcased by remote events that align with early 'doof' culture. 

Underground electronic music appreciation isn't typically learned through mainstream channels – it requires exposure, context, and community. Without these formative 'rite of passage' experiences, many young people missed the window where they might have developed an appreciation for electronic music beyond commercial EDM.

The current festival market increasingly caters to millennials in their 30s and early 40s who established their connection to festival culture pre-pandemic. A generational disconnect would present a direct threat to the industry's long-term sustainability. Without organic cultural transmission, the scene risks becoming a nostalgic playground for aging millennials rather than a living, evolving culture.

So how do we revive the Australian festival scene? Market trends tell us part of the story, but festivals aren't just another product to be bought and sold - they're gateways to cultural experiences and community belonging. Understanding who buys tickets and when is just one piece of the puzzle. We need to understand how festival culture lives and breathes, and what drives people to become part of a scene.

I am developing an open-access whitepaper white paper that will draw from social psychological theory to understand the cultural drivers of festival participation. The whitepaper will provide recommendations to help festival organisers move beyond ticket sales toward cultural preservation and transmission.

I want to hear from festival promoters, artists, and long-term scene participants. Tell me your stories! What brought you to the scene? What has kept you in the scene? Stories are rich sources of data that preserve historical knowledge and document cultural evolution. Below is a link to an anonymous survey where you can share your experiences. Your input will contribute to developing open-access strategies for reviving the scene.

Here is a link to an anonymous survey where you can share your thoughts: https://s.surveyplanet.com/exiikm6j

References

Luckman, S. (2003). Going bush and finding one's' tribe': Raving, escape and the bush doof. Continuum, 17(3), 315-330.

St John, G. (2001). FreeNRG: notes from the edge of the dance floor. Common Ground Publishing.

Creative Australia (2024). Soundcheck: Insights into Australia’s music festival sector