After spending a few months preparing the festival socially, we headed west for our first time Grampians Music Festival to the third edition of the festival. A boutique festival experience, surrounded by lush mountains where guests enjoyed stunning sets by an all-star local lineup including Sampa The Great, Angie McMahon, Wafia and Slum Sociable.
In the months leading up to the festival we worked our magic on socials, creating sweet simple artwork which incorporated the festivals logo - a representation of sound waves and the Grampians mountain tops.
GMF has a big focus being eco-friendly and the punters took on the challenge to do their part too. Everyone brought their own refillable water bottle to minimise waste and there was a station to read about the impact our behaviour at home has on the environment. Simple changes like banning single use plastic can easily be achieved by larger festivals too, and we’re sure it won’t be long until this becomes the norm in the industry.
Alice Skye was the perfect choice to open the festival, setting the mood nicely with her calming tunes echoing around the Valley Floor. GMF is a family-friendly festival, and electronic up-and-comers Huntly were a hands-down favourite amongst the young ones. They had every kid dancing at the front and even sharing some of the singing.
The undeniable highlight of the weekend was Sampa the Great, who headlined Saturday night with her full live band and dancers. The show stopping set had an amazing response, everyone clearly stunned by Sampa’s enormous stage presence. While we take live music for granted, a festival like this is rare for a place like the Grampians, so it was touching to consider the fact that this would be many kids’ first experiences of live music.
Photos by Monique Pizzica