VIKTORIA BALANZATEGUI
The sleepy community of Mt Samson got a shake up over the weekend with music and arts festival Red Deer bringing hundreds of people out to the D’Aguilar Range in Queensland.
Featuring popular acts The Grates, Kingswood, Mat McHugh (ex Beautiful Girls front man) and Chance Waters, the festival prides itself on being Brisbane’s only BYO music festival.
Making its debut in 2010, Red Deer is an independent community drive event “committed to offering local bands, artists and music lovers a fresh, honest and intimate alternate to other mainstream music festivals.”
This laidback festival has previously been dubbed the ‘anti-festival’, by it’s cheap ticket prices of $79, BYO drinks, free camping and isolated situation.
Every year Red Deer strives to produce a line-up, which provides talented, contemporary artists for a cross section of musical tastes, as well as supporting unsigned local musicians.
Over 1500 festivalgoer’s attended this year, which saw ticket sales triple since previous years.
Attendees basked in the sun on Saturday on camp chairs and old couches that had been cramped into the back of cars and utes all the way from Brisbane for ultimate comfort over the course of the day.
As the live music interrupted the peace of the countryside, attendees watched on, either dancing with friends or enjoying it from a distance, sitting with beverage in hand and the familiar smell of a certain herb in the air.
Next to this natural amphitheatre, tents and swags littered the grounds, and as the day wore on it grew dark, the energy among attendee’s also grew.
Also, often due to the over consumption of alcohol, many socialised with other attendees and danced and sung to the music before retiring to their tents.
With the festival this year being pirate themed, old fashion pirate ship sails hung off the trees, and as well as attendees sporting eye patches, sailor hats and even one keen supported dressed up as a parrot.
Festivalgoer, Stephanie Lindeman, who was attending Red Deer for her second time, mostly enjoys the exclusivity of the festival,
“Where it is situated makes the festival so special, and as not the whole of Brisbane is aware that it even takes place makes it feel somewhat secretive”
“It’s always such a great festival, everyone who goes is just out to have a good time and listen to some outstanding music”
Red Deer’s popularity is likely to keep growing due to word of mouth promoting it’s success, and happy festival goers are already asking when next year’s tickets will be available to purchase.