Party In The Paddock: from humble beginnings to a global award nom

Party In The Paddock will return for one last time in February. Grown from humble beginnings, what was once just a few mates kicking on in the backyard is now in the running to be NME’s Best Australian Festival.

For those that haven’t been, the festival is known for its humble charm and curation of art, music, and culture in one of the most scenic places in Australia. But like many Aussie music festivals, it has seen its best days.

PITP has felt the pressure to succeed over the years. Each year was a matter of life or death with the need to nail every single aspect of production – the lineup, sufficient funding, and the culture – and with the added pressure of ensuring safety for all. The time has come to lay Party In The Paddock to rest but for reasons completely within control.

TIO caught up with festival founder, Jesse Higgs, to talk about what this decision means for Vibestown and the Australian music scene.

Interview with founder Jesse Higgs

There are many measures taken at the Tasmanian festival to ensure the experience for punters is unique and special. “We don’t have a huge budget and we’re not full of these massive, international headliners, and we don’t have heaps of money but what we do have is a lot of good vibes, a lot of energy, and a lot of love for what we do,” says Higgs.

Every year, the festival is put on hold while the Vibestown March takes place; a 30 minute parade to celebrate the PITP community and the life of their late friend who passed on the eve of the first festival. Immersed in costume, the entirety of the Vibestown team and thousands of festival punters come together to party.

Matt Corby and Hermitude lead the 2020 lineup

Higgs believes this has played a huge part in instilling the culture of the festival. And as the festival has grown, the celebration has just gotten bigger.

PITP has become one of the best Australian music offerings. The festival is motored by a fighting heart that has been driving every decision made since the beginning.

Support for pill testing

Over the years, PITP has been a catalyst for conversation on issues facing youth culture. In 2019, PITP submitted a petition to have pill testing trialled at the festival. It was submitted with shared knowledge that 2020 would see the last of PITP.

But, knowing the team wouldn’t see the ongoing safety benefits if they were successful, they knew it was an issue they had to pursue.

“There shouldn’t be an event where kids come to a festival and die because of a lack of knowledge and education and lack of awareness,” says Higgs.

Pill testing is a nation-wide issue yet to be addressed. PITP are adamant on maintaining pill testing as a health issue and thanks to their efforts, there will be an “education station” at the festival for punters to speak with professionals about any concerns or drug-related questions they have.

PITP has received financial support from the Government to back up the harm minimisation sector, especially for drug related incidents.

“We’re passionate young people and we’re passionate about youth culture and it’s important that when we’re in a position where we can influence a conversation or we can use our privilege that we’ve created through our event to be able to have conversations and put something like this forward to parliament, and to be able to gain so much conversation around a topic so important with media and all these different facets,” says Higgs.

“That’s a big part of our passion as socially conscious, young people. It gives us purpose and meaning to bring that to the forefront.”

It’s PITP’s biggest instalment to date

PITP understand the importance of music festivals

This may be the end of PITP (at least for now) but the Vibestown team acknowledge the need for more a prosperous music scene.

“Young people need music festivals, because we need things to do because otherwise you see what happens when kids are left to be bored. They end up getting themselves in trouble,” Higgs says.

“Hopefully we’ve shown the way a little bit and more young people step up into it [the live music scene]… It is really important that youth culture have those outlets and can build that community around something that becomes a bit bigger than just going out and getting wasted. That’s the special thing about what we get to do with this.”

Higgs explains they could have sold the event but “it didn’t feel right”.

“Sometimes people make the mistake of not being in tune with the natural ending of things.”

The final event will double as PITP’s biggest one yet, and while the production team have the opportunity to continue to lead the way with the brand they have built, they are sure this is the right decision.

“It’s leaving a legacy of how things can be done when good people come together for the right reasons.”

Party In The Paddock 2020
Thursday, 6th – Saturday, 8th February
White Hills, Tasmania
Tickets: Official Website

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.