NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE: AN AUSTRALIAN AT FORWARDS FESTIVAL
Summer finally returned to show off the last of itself in Bristol last weekend, setting the scene for a beautiful day at Forwards festival.
A short walk through a grassy park in Clifton Downs laid the second annual Forwards Festival, with day 2 featuring artists like Aphex Twin, Primal Scream, Amyl and the Sniffers, Obongjayar and more.
But the delicious mix of rare-for-England good weather and not-so-rare-for-England good music wasn’t the most notable parts of the day for me. This day for me brought forth a promise, one that I’d been waiting for so much of my adolescence life to have fulfilled. A pledge from all of my English friends, from years of watching youtube videos of Glastonbury and various festivals like it, and reading various Vice stories about the shenanigans that come with them. The promise that every Australian in England prays to be true.. That English festivals are oh so much god damn better than Australian ones.
For a nation that is so serious about oaths I had to sing the national anthem in its entirety after pledging my allegiance to God and the crown in order to become a citizen here - I can confirm they take this oath just as seriously.
The positive differences came before I even entered the event site. With Forwards festival being held pretty centrally in the city, there was a swarm of double decker busses ready to take patrons too and from various locations around Bristol to ensure their patrons got home ( or at least to an afterparty) with discretion and safety. Unlike Australian music festivals, who still havent seemed to nail the whole public transport after a festival thing yet ( lest we forget Splendour 2022 bus fiasco where people waited upwards of 6 hours in the cold mud .. oops)
TRANSPORTATION - Point 1 England.
After encountering refreshingly friendly security and staff on the main gates, the next thing I noticed was the obvious inclusivity that seemed to just be the norm here. Physical accessibility to every stage, food stall and installation for those in wheelchairs or with other physical disabilities, as well as large viewing platforms and an accessible bathroom truck. For folks with hearing impairments, there was a very clear specific lane in the main entrance for those who needed assistance, as well as a hearing loop and the ever crowd favorite sign language interpreter on every stage.
Multiple chill out and sensory calm spaces, something that Australia is very very new on and received a lot of backlash about after neuro-divergent activist and Actor Chloe Hayden was denied entry to one for ‘not looking Autistic enough”.
Beyond disability inclusivity, Forwards festival was a breath of fresh air for diversity. In true Bristol fashion, there was a large area for various campaigns, charities, and social crusades. A space for learning and positive change, which historically has always gone hand in hand with music festivals and artists. Diversity was also prevalent on the lineup, featuring a varied mixture of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and age all the while presenting a high standard of music. Somehow this is still something that Australian music promoters and the industry at large struggle with, with studies from a few years ago highlighting this discrepancy. In 2018, 80% of Australian line-ups were featured ONLY white members, with 16% inclusivity for people of color. That same study showed the line ups to be over 70% male, with 23% being female / N.B ( the rest were bands with a mix of genders/ non binary. )
Unfortunately with Australian music festivals still feeling very much like a ‘dude fest’ who still has a long way to go to call themselves accessible for disabled patrons and musicians alike; this is another area we are head over heels beaten by England in.
INCLUSIVITY - Point 1 England
I won’t touch on this one too much since I rambled on a whole lot in a separate article about how behind the Australian government is when it comes to drug safety at festivals, but it was pretty cool to see with my own eyes what harm reduction can look like at an event.
Local charity ‘Bristol Drug Project’ had a tent set up, aiming to bring support and knowledge to anyone who needed it at the festival and beyond. They also had a lot of free harm reduction gear for those who chose to partake in risky activities, like clean snorting equipment, condoms, lube and a judgment free chill out area if anyone felt like they had too much.
There were obviously also medical tents and multiple medically trained personnel around the festival, a legal requirement for events like this in both Australia and England.
The helpful attitude of authority that were positioned around made patrons who were partaking in drugs feel comfortable enough to pace themselves, and even smoke joints as casually as if it were a cigarette. Its undeniable that over policing forces people to overdose after they take all of their illicit in one go in fear that they will get caught.
DRUG SAFETY- Point 1 England
All of these things that I have mentioned added up to a really beautiful atmosphere. Forwards festival felt like how all festivals should feel. People of all ages from all walks of life, sitting in the grass enjoying the company of their mates in the summer sun, soundtracked to some fantastic music. Australian festivals, especially day festivals, feel like a competition to see who can get the most fucked up before the sun goes down before getting sent home by a St Johns ambulance volunteer, all the while you’ve paid a stupid amount of money for what promoters are trying to pass off as a ‘good lineup’ when everyone knows its comprised mostly of washed-up recycled legacy acts.
I saw very little messiness, or violence, or any of the other gross things that we become acustom to in Australia. I saw instead a lot of happy patrons, safely enjoying their day - and its kind of sick that that isn't even just the norm for me. Do better Aus!
VIBES - Point 1 England
As for the ACTUAL MUSIC, there was a few clear standouts of the day. OBONGJAYAR eclectic mix of afrobeat, soul, jazz, and spoken word made for one hell of a setlist. The natural born performer had audiences moving, even those who had never heard of him before.
Legacy act Primal Scream ensured the entire festival took part in a sing along when they launched onto the stage as the sun set behind them with classic anthem ‘Moving On Up’.
But crowd favorite of the day seemed to be Australian band Amyl and the Sniffers. I totally understand my bias in this, but as someone who remembers seeing them when it was a crowd of 15 in a shitty dive bar somewhere along the Australian coast, to being in a crowd where tens of thousands Brits are screaming along to every lyrics - its a pretty humbling experience.
Amy Taylor proves that if a girl from Mullumbimby who sounds endearingly like a bogan parrot can make it to the big stage, then maybe I can make it too. Maybe we all can. Maybe Australian festivals can be just as good English ones and I wont have anything to write about anymore except for this time in history where there was even a parallel to begin with.
PHOTO BY: @KHALIPHOTOGRAPHY
I don't know, but what I do know is that if England and Australia can agree on one thing - it's how great Amyl and the Sniffers are. And for that, one point Aus.
MUSIC- POINT 1 AUSTRALIA
