In short:
The Big Red Bash music festival has started, with 8,000 people travelling to Birdsville on the edge of the Simpson Desert.
Rain in the days leading up the festival created challenges for organisers for the second year in a row.
What’s next?
Clear skies are forecast for the next couple of days but more wet weather is forecast towards the end of the week.
Unseasonal mid-winter rain has made for a soggy start to Australia’s most remote music festival for the second year in a row.
Big Red Bash kicked off today just outside Birdsville — more than 1,500km west of Brisbane.
It doesn’t take much rain to turn the red dirt roads of the region to mud, and 12.4 millimetres of rain on Sunday cost the festival a day of set-up time, according to founder and organiser Greg Donovan.
“It did rain pretty much on the exact same day last year … I think the odds of that must be a million to one,” he said.
“Rain in the desert, it’s really unusual in winter.
“Those sorts of challenges are just part and parcel with running a festival in the outdoors.”
‘No adventure without water’
But with the sun now shining, the muddy ground has not dampened the spirits of those who have made the trek to the edge of the desert.
Leeanne Rotondo travelled from Ryde, just north of Sydney, to attend the festival for the first time.
She had planned on attending in previous years with her husband Nick, before he died in November last year.
“This year I know he can’t make it, but we’re doing it for him,” she said.
Ms Rotondo said the trip was a chance to visit the remote music festival and tick that item off the bucket list.
Unconcerned with the weather forecast ahead, she’ll be staying for the entire festival.
“There’s no adventure without water,” she said.
The journey to the Big Red Bash is known for being as fun as the event itself, and the muddy tracks to Birdsville have kept motorists on their toes.
The main road to the east from Windorah reopened to 4WDs yesterday, after being closed on Sunday due to rain.
Drivers slipped and slid their way to Birdsville, some becoming bogged along the way.
Numbers down but the show goes on
About 8,000 people will attend this year’s event, down from 11,000 last year.
Mr Donovan said he was not surprised by the drop.
“At least we are running — there’s been a number of big festivals that are not continuing,” he said.
“We’re just really happy to be out here and giving everyone a good time.”
Mr Donovan said everyone at the event was in “holiday mode”, with most making the festival a stop during a multi-week trip.
“There really is nothing like this festival,” he said.
“The trip and the journey out here, the beautiful landscape in the outback, the camaraderie, the beautiful country towns.”
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This year’s musical line-up includes Tina Arena, Jon Stevens, Ian Moss, Colin Hay, Tim Finn and many more popular acts.
The event raises funds for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Chance of rain later in the week
Meteorologist Helen Kirkup from the Bureau of Meteorology said there were “clear skies” in Birdsville today with similar weather expected over the next couple of days.
“But then we are going to go back to getting a bit more rain towards the end of the week with a trough that’s sitting near the Peninsula down to the Channel Country,” Ms Kirkup said.
“So in terms of people heading out of Birdsville, on the pack-up day, there’s a chance they’re going to get more showers through that region.”
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