The Nimbin Aquarius Festival was a counter-cultural arts and

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

organised by the

Australian Union of Students The Australian Union of Students (AUS), formerly National Union of Australian University Students (NUAUS), was a representative body and lobby group for Australian university and college of advanced education students. It collapsed in 1984 and ...

. It was the fourth in a biannual series of festivals, first organised by the National Union of Australian University Students. The first Australian Universities Arts Festival was held in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1967, and the second Australian Universities Arts Festival was held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 1969. The third added "Aquarius" to its name and was held in Canberra in 1971. The fourth and last was held in

Nimbin, New South Wales Nimbin is a town in the Northern Rivers area of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of New South Wales, approximately north of Lismore, New South Wales, Lismore, northeast of Kyogle, New South Wales, Kyogle, and west ...

in 1973. The Aquarius Festival aimed to celebrate alternative thinking and

sustainable lifestyle Sustainable living describes a lifestyle that attempts to reduce the use of Earth's natural resources by an individual or society. Its practitioners often attempt to reduce their ecological footprint (including their carbon footprint) by alteri ...

s. The ten-day event was held from 12 to 23 May 1973 and co-directed by Johnny Allen and Graeme Dunstan. Vernon Treweeke also played a part in organising the event. It is often described as Australia's equivalent to the

Woodstock Festival The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

and the birthplace for Australia's

hippie movement The hippie subculture (also known as the flower people) began its development as a teenager and youth movement in the United States from the mid-1960s to early 1970s and then developed around the world. Its origins may be traced to European soc ...

. It has also been credited with being the first event that sought the permission to use the land from

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

, and included a Welcome to Country ceremony. The estimated attendance at Nimbin was between 5,000 and 10,000 people.

Performers

Performers at the festival included the White Company - an experimental theatre troupe featuring a number of alternative culture artists including Peter Carolan - singer Paul Joseph, Donny McCormack (ex-Nutwood Rug Band), The Larrikins and Ian Farr. Also appearing were Indian street performers the Bauls of Bengal, the South African pianist Dollar Brand (later known as

Abdullah Ibrahim Abdullah Ibrahim (born Adolph Johannes Brand on 9 October 1934), previously known as Dollar Brand, is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cap ...

), classical-ambient musician Lindsay Bourke, and tightrope walker and unicyclist

Philippe Petit Philippe Petit (; born 13 August 1949) is a French highwire artist who gained fame for his unauthorized highwire walks between the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971 and of Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1973, as well as between the Twi ...

, who gained worldwide fame the following year by walking between the rooftops of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. The New Zealand-based musical and theatrical troupe Blerta also made an appearance, starring the likes of Bruno Lawrence and Geoff Murphy, both of whom later went on to produce a number of successful feature films together.

Legacy

The festival had a permanent effect on the economy of Nimbin, as many Festival participants decided to remain in the district. The area was previously a dairying and banana growing region in severe decline. Some of those that stayed might be defined as

hippies A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

, but in fact the larger percentage came from all sorts of backgrounds and life experience, ranging from 18 to 80 years old. One group pooled resources after the Nimbin Aquarius Festival and bought a then property at Tuntable Falls in the next valley east, below Mount Nardi, and formed a community called the "Co-Ordination Co-Operative". Other groups followed suit and formed communes that continue today. Examples include Paradise Valley Pastoral Company and Nmbngee. Interviews were conducted in 1992 documenting the alternative lifestyle movement of northern NSW in the 1970s, focusing on the town of Nimbin and the 1973 Aquarius Festival. Interviewees discussed how they arrived in Nimbin, their efforts in organising the Aquarius Festival, and the lasting impact the Festival had on the township. ''Aquarius'' is a 2024 documentary directed by Wendy Champagne, chronicling the Nimbin Aquarius Festival of 1973.

References

External links

Nimbin History

Archival footage of 1973 Nimbin and Festival

1971 Aquarius Festival Programme (RMIT University Catalyst Supplement)

Nimbin Good Times: Australia's Aquarius Festival (1973) - video

GTK (ABC Television) Episode 666 on Nimbin Aquarius Festival - including interviews with locals
* *Lee Stickells
“‘And Everywhere Those Strange Polygonal Igloos’: Framing a History of Australian Countercultural Architecture”
in ''Proceedings of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand'': 30, Open, edited by Alexandra Brown and Andrew Leach (Gold Coast, Qld: SAHANZ, 2013), vol. 2, pp 555-568. {{coord, 28, 38, 45, S, 153, 13, 23, E, display=title 1973 in Australia Cultural festivals in Australia 1973 music festivals Music festivals in New South Wales Hippie movement History of Australia (1945–present) History of New South Wales Counterculture festivals Northern Rivers Music festivals established in 1971 Music festivals established in 1973 Pop music festivals Music festivals in Australian Capital Territory

Performers

Legacy

See also

References

External links