From Psychedelic Traveller

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the mainland of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous other islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east.

[2009] United in diversity in AUSTRALIA

written by Suspekt

Lush rainforest. Dusty deserts. Snowy peaks. Arid bushland. Australia’s scenery is diverse as its people. The outdoor party community of Australia is part of this diversity – the long standing culture has been present since the whole trance and outdoor electronic scene began, and continues to this day.

Sure, the music has changed and people have come and gone – but the one thing that has always been said about the Australian psychedelic community is that it has stayed true to the ideals of what made the scene so special in the first place – unity, peace, respect, a connection to mother nature and the environment and most of all, fun. From internationally renowned locations like Melbourne, Sydney and Byron Bay, to slightly less-known but no less active communities like Cairns, Brisbane, Newcastle, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart – you won’t have to look far in Australia if you want to find a good party.

Because of the long distances between each city, the individual scenes all have their own colour, flavour and musical identities, ensuring that everyone’s style and taste is catered for and at the same time, each offering their distinct interpretation of what constitutes psychedelic culture. Parties happen in Australia all year round, with the biggest concentration taking place over summer, especially in the southern states (excluding places like Cairns and Darwin, which receive lots of summer rain and are more pleasant in the dry and milder winter months).

Festivals like Rainbow Serpent, Tribeadelic, the now defunct Earthcore and the 2002 Outback Eclipse (among many others) have done a lot for building Australia’s reputation in the eyes of the international trance community, and spawned a hugely active party culture that includes a range of events, from smaller bush doofs to massive festivals, and a healthy indoor club culture as well. Rainbow Serpent is still one of the biggest and best loved festivals, as is Sydney’s Earthdance, which recorded as massive 40,000 person attendance last year. Tribeadelic is still going strong on New Year’s Eve in Victoria too, with other notable outdoor parties and festivals including Matreiya, Earth Freq, Winter Solstice Cairns, Akasha, Somatica, Exodus and too many more to list.

2012 will see another eclipse take place over the northern part of Australia, so expect some major events around this time too. Australia also has a large selection of top level DJs, producers and live bands in a broad range of styles including full on and dark psytrance, progressive, techno, dub, dubstep, minimal, house, IDM, glitch, downbeat and just about any other genre adjective you can think of. There are also great visual and performance artists, promoters, healers and volunteers that are integral in keeping the creative side of parties alive.

The people in general are a friendly bunch, made up a variety of ethnic groups and backgrounds. Many of the party people are transient, meaning you often see the same friendly faces at parties around the country, despite long distances between centres. One thing if you visit - If you visit, you definitely won’t have any problems making friends or finding fun stuff to do. All in all, Australia might be far from the rest of the world, yet it’s warm people, rugged natural beauty, fantastic climate and healthy party culture make it a must for any psychedelic traveller. Come and join us sometime, we’d love to have you!