A Day on the Green

Written By Lizzie T

Image Sourced from Roadhouse Entertainment: A poster that provides the lineup, location and date for ‘A Day on the Green’

Since 2001, A Day on The Green has provided an essential economic boost for rural communities across Australia by presenting world-renowned artists such as Elton John, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Fleetwood Mac (Roadhouse Entertainment, 2024). I for one would not be heading to Geelong (no offence) if it weren’t for the upcoming lineup featuring The Chemical Brothers and The Presets. Whilst I am including this article in my ‘Feature Festivals’ series, A Day on The Green isn’t technically a festival, yet it’s “far more than a concert event, it is an ‘experience’” (Roadhouse Entertainment, 2024). As someone who has zero authority over what clarifies as a festival this four-act, in the middle of a field, giant stage, messy mosh-pit, ‘concert’, is most definitely an experience, too similar to a festival not to be referred to as one.

festival fits ~

The dress that I wore is not only something I’ve worn out clubbing before but was only a $15 purchase from a thrift store.

Trust me when I say being an ‘outfit repeater’ is a good thing. If I bought a new outfit every time I went to a festival, I’d be broke and have an overflowing wardrobe of unused clothes. It’s sad to note that festivals heavily contributes to the fast fashion industry. People will go in-store and online to buy outfits they’ll only wear to one festival and never wear again. Not to be a hater, but I hate this. Not only is it horrible for the environment but you spend heaps of money just to wear the same fits as somebody else. Go thrift shopping, mix and match your old outfits, buy clothes you can wear daily, borrow your friend's clothes or even just wear what you wore to a different festival. By doing this you’ll not only save money and the environment, but you’ll also look cool doing it ;)

The Festivities ~

Day on the Green was all the way out in a Geelong winery, which, like many other festival goers, was quite a trek from where I live. Luckily the cool, super hip crew that I was going with (my family) were driving to it and let me tag along. We did the classic thing of thinking we had plenty of time, to getting lost and being an hour later than we originally planned. Despite our turtle and the hare moment we made it into the festival by 5 pm, set up ‘camp’ and caught Anna Lunoes set, who we all knew nothing about but quite enjoyed. My father mentioned roughly 5 hours before that we would be meeting our cousin twice removed at the festival as he was working as a stagehand for the Chemical Brothers. Super random given that I didn’t know he existed before this event, nor did I know I had British relatives. Despite how random it was it was such a lovely experience meeting him and learning more about the set-up of festivals. He told us about the crew's shenanigans, the set-up of laser robots, how there was a groupie that had been there for so long that he became an opening DJ for them and more! It was truly such an interesting conversation, and he was nice enough to get us fancy green wristbands so we could get closer to the stage. After a group photo, some drinks, and some exploration, The Presets started and we rushed down to dance in the now-made-available, thanks to our cousin, mosh. As good as they were they didn’t DJ a lot of their songs, I think we counted three in total, one being their iconic ‘My People’.

Photos taken by my family and I: A shot of The Presets stage during their set (left). Our extended family photo (middle). A shot of The Chemical Brothers opening song ‘Go’ (right).

Next up was The Chemical Brothers! We went straight to the mosh and were there for the opening of their set which happened to be my favourite song of theirs, ‘Go’. We stayed for a while longer appreciating not only the music but their incredible visual effects. It was quite possibly the most funky, enticing, bizarre visuals I have seen, ranging from dancing-lined people to a superhero fighting off obscure monsters. If you told me I was going to see giant robots appear on stage shooting laser beams and an ‘Just Dance’ looking marching band all in the same set I wouldn’t have believed you. All in all The Chemical Brothers put on a show to remember, and a loud one at that. We headed off before the encore to catch the last train back to Southern Cross and were back in the car when I realized I didn’t have my phone on me (oops!). My father and I set off on a wild goose chase in the dark vast car park, calling it until someone finally picked up. They were laughing saying ‘Hey Lame Dad’ as that is my father's contact name, before telling us my phone was at the merch tent. After pushing through the wave of exiting people we reached the tent and received my phone among the many others that had been lost. Ironically enough, everyone who had lost their phone also had cat pictures as their screensavers, so trying to identify my phone was another funny moment despite the situation. Getting out was a bit of a fiasco, with the original plan not an option anymore, but we all managed to get home safe and sound after a long yet exciting evening!

Photos taken by my family and I: The Chemical Brothers ‘Just Dance’ looking Marching Band (left). A group of photographers; aka my family (middle). Giant laser beam shooting robots from The Chemical Brothers set (right).

Tips and Tricks ~

  • Do your research. Lots of festivals provide lists of stuff you should and shouldn’t bring onto the grounds, look at it beforehand. I saw a bunch of people pouring out or chugging their cans before entering which was such a waste. If you bring stuff in, like food and drinks, be cautious about what they allow, it's better to not have it at all than lose it upon entering. On top of that, look at the forecast, just because it's warm during the day doesn’t mean you won’t need a jacket later, so come prepared!

  • Plan your way to and from the festival. This festival was odd given its huge lineup and obscure location. If I didn’t go with my parents, who had a car, we’d have had to bus, uber or train to and from the festival. A Day on the Green provided buses to and from Melbourne Central, $60 both ways and had designated spots for people who drove and needed to be picked up. Despite that, the amount of people who were in that festival meant that getting out was chaotic, and slow, especially if you had no idea how you were getting home. Plan, find out where you need to go to leave beforehand and have a backup option, that way getting out of the festival won’t be overwhelming and ruin your otherwise amazing time.

  • Go to festivals with your Family. It’s a great way to spend quality time with them as well as bond and boogie over shared interests. I got lucky and feel so comfortable with my family that no matter the mood or vibe I’m in I know they’ll be there for me. In saying that, I know not everyone has a great relationship with their family so if this doesn’t sound like an enjoyable time for you, take your chosen family, it’ll have the same effect.

  • Keep track of your belongings. I was silly enough to lose my phone at the end of the festivities and despite it being a funny story now it wasn’t a great feeling in the moment. To avoid upsetting moments like that keep track of your stuff when you’re on the move. If your friends or family are also prone to losing things, ask them if they’ve got everything before heading off. It is such a lousy feeling to lose something that shouldn’t have been lost, especially something you need to get home.

  • Wear earplugs. I might sound like a grandma when I say this, but the music at festivals is loud, sometimes even too loud. The sound can sometimes even be unbearable if you’re standing near a speaker or the front of the stage. By putting just one earplug in not only can you enjoy the music better, your ears will ring less in the morning, and thank you greatly for it in the future. I usually wear loop earplugs (see below) but disposable ones work just as well if you’re not a regular festival goer.

Final Festival Factors ~

Would I recommend A Day on the Green? That depends. The set-up was well thought out for a ‘festival’, and the music was wonderful, however, that's because I’m a fan of the two main artists that played. Next time the lineup will be completely different, so I can’t say much about future festivities. What I can say though is that the location was definitely out of the way, and for people who don’t have the option of a car, there’s not a cheap or relatively easy option available. So, if you’re dedicated to the future line-up of A Day on the Green, and don’t mind the potentially long trip for the somewhat short amount of boogying time, then the answer is yes!

 

See you at the next Festival!

SOURCES:

Lizzie T
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