Groovin the Moo 2010

On Saturday, May 1 I had the pleasure of attending my third Groovin the Moo festival. This one was held in Bendigo and somehow, I managed to get the day off work for it (thank God!)


The acts that played included Lisa Mitchell, Space Invadas, Grinspoon, Miami Horror, British India, Bag Raiders, Yacht Club DJs, Jonathan Boulet, Empire of the Sun, Tegan and Sara, Vampire Weekend, Spoon and a few others. We were lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny day and a great group of friends to enjoy the festival with. I'm not sure what my favourite band was because I just loved so many of them! 

Lisa, me, Holly and Johanne

Ahh sun... =)

Matt enjoying the festival a little too much

One thing I really enjoyed about Groovin the Moo was that they used the temptation of cheaper alcohol to discourage littering in the 18+ area. According to Johanne, who was also at Groovin the Moo, they started doing it in Europe. Basically, for every container (empty can) you return, you get $1 off the price of the drink, but you can only bring a maximum of 4 containers up per person, so instead of paying $8 for beers, we were paying $4 - which is a bargain, for festival prices! I did notice that the 18+ area was a lot tidier than the rest of the grounds, so good on whoever came up with that idea! I thought it was very effective!

We were all about the cheap beers!

Unfortunately, what brought the festival down were a few of the people on security on the day. Firstly, getting into the venue took some people 3 hours of waiting time, which is just unbelievable! There wasn't a line for those who didn't have bags, so it really slowed things down. Secondly, when I presented my bag, I was holding an empty drink bottle which I planned to fill up with water instead of buying another bottle, and I was told I could not bring that in because although it was empty, 'it could be lined with pure alcohol' (righto!). I was told to throw it out or I could not enter. I don't remember reading anything anywhere about empty drink bottles being prohibited, but I accepted it. So when I got inside the festival, the first thing I did was buy a drink in a bottle that I could refill all day, but when I got to the entrance of the 18+ section, I had to present my ID, despite the fact that I had an 18+ wristband on, have my bag searched - again - and was told to throw away my newly bought (inside the festival grounds, 5 minutes ago) drink bottle. What? On top of that, our friends who had gotten through the gates with unopened bottles of soft drink were told to throw them out or they would not be able to enter the 18+ area either. Even stranger, was that the exit of the 18+ area, with big signs saying 'No alcohol past this point' was not being guarded as heavily with people walking out with huge bags being unchecked, and strangely, Johanne was given unopened beers that he could have quite easily taken them out of the 18+ area, more than I could get my Vitamin Water in. Which reminds me, when I purchased my drink, the girl in front of me asked for a can of Red Bull and she said 'please don't open it', the server said, 'No, I have to - responsible service.' Of what? Sugar?! I thought, as the same lady served me an unopened bottle of Vitamin Water. Gosh, it was very confusing. Thankfully, all of those rules were relaxed, but honestly, what was going on there?

Where's Wally?

Vampire Weekend and their amazing chandeliers 'Me and my cousins and you and your cousins...'

Very worth it!

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