kateonthenogo

Chilling Out @ Peats Ridge Music Festival

The busiest shop in town! The Mayan Coffee Tent! The lines were always large, particularly in the early hours of the day!

The days would begin for many with a coffee by the river.

The atmosphere was very relaxed - just a lot of lazing about with the music in the background.

Due to the 30 degrees celcius weather, many spent a lot of their time in the river nearby....

....including me!

But I managed to stay out of the sun as best as possible.

Peats Ridge Music Festival - the Kooky and the Crazy!

No Festival Is Without Rain - Peats Ridge Music Festival

A music festival is not a good festival without one day of good solid rain! In this instance, rain came early on Day 1. It was shortlived but not before people enjoyed the puddles, and I enjoyed the use of my baby pink scottish gum boots!

Mud wrestling - Peats Ridge style!

Here i am, enjoying the rain!

The festivities continued nonetheless!

And soon enough, the rain stopped and it was back to the fun!

Capoeira @ Peats Ridge Music Festival

Throughout the days, for those who needed a break from the music, there were a number of workshops in which partygoers could participate, including this Capoeira class. Wikipedia describes capoeira as follows:

Capoeira (IPA: [ka.pu.ˈej.ɾɐ]) is an Afro-Brazilian art form that ritualizes movement from martial arts, games, and dance. It was brought to Brazil from Angola some time after the 16th century in the regions known as Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and São Paulo. Participants form a roda or circle and take turns either playing musical instruments (such as the Berimbau), singing, or ritually sparring in pairs in the center of the circle. The game is marked by fluid acrobatic play, feints, and extensive use of sweeps, kicks, and headbutts. Less frequently used techniques include elbow-strikes, slaps, punches, and body throws. Its origins and purpose are a matter of debate, with the spectrum of argument ranging from views of Capoeira as a uniquely Brazilian folk dance with improvised fighting movements to claims that it is a battle-ready fighting form directly descended from ancient African techniques.

Festival-goers trying their hard at basic capoeira movements...

...and then let the experienced dancers show them how its done.

It requires great agility and fitness!

And a little bit of acrobatics as well!

West African Dancing Workshop @ Peats

Another workshop held was the West African Drum and Dance Workshop. I gave it a miss, but my friends said it was a real cardio workout!

Peats Ridge Music Festival By Night

Each night at the Peats Ridge Festival, people came out and enjoyed the music in the various tents. The carnival atmosphere was wonderful and the summer nights allowed for great fun to be had.

Solo artist playing in a session in one of the smaller tents.

The main stage was always alive and loud.

The party atmosphere was fantastic, with lots of fluoro light hula hoops.

This allowed some great photo opportunities!

Beautiful lanterns hung from the trees surrounding the festival tents.

The Peats Ridge Festival Freak Show - New Years Eve 08/09

The sun began to go down and the freaks came out. It was hard to work out whether people were dressed in costume or whether it was their ordinary style of dress. Either way, it goes down as one of the WEIRDEST new years i have ever experienced - but it was a whole bunch of fun!

KateOnTheNoGo & Friends - Peats Ridge New Years 08/09

And not to be outdone by crazy people, I went a little crazy myself. AM and I raced out down the freeway to the nearest material store and spent Day 4 of Peats Ridge pulling together out New Years outfits. Erica arrived and the party began!