Playground Weekender Festival @ Del Rio Riverside Resort, Wiseman's Ferry, NSW Australia.
A little over two years ago, as I lay in a gutter on the main street of Sydney at midnight waiting for the ambulance to arrive, my foot now facing backwards, thanks to a pair of summer sandals with no grip, my good friend crouched in front of me, blocking my view to the horror at the end of my leg, I swore to him that I was still going to make it to Playground Weekender in two weeks time!! 'Of course you are....' he gallantly replied, barely able to conceal the pity in his dark brown eyes.  Many operations and a brand new metal ankle later, it's safe to say I never made it to Playground that year... and I've been itching to go ever since...

And so it was to be this year, that I finally packed up the car and headed up to Wisemans Ferry on the picturesque Hawkesbury River. The first hurdle was managing a way to carry my oodles of camping crap to the ferry, for the only way into the festival is by boat.  However, nothing really prepared me for the 3 hours of waiting we endured trying to get on that ferry.. but I did hear others who arrived even later that had it much worse, up to 6 hours! Throughout the rest of the festival it was almost a crap badge of honour, who had the most horrific wait... Heed my warning future festival goers, if you can, get there that day early, you will get the best camping spots and scoot all the way through to the front of that ferry in no time!

Once we eventually got to Del Rio Riverside Resort where the festival is held, it was pure comedy dragging our stuff to the campsite. Once settled we headed in to catch some tunes, just catching the end of Caribou's set. I got chatting to the super friendly crowd and for a moment wondered if I had perhaps stumbled into an episode of 'Brits Abroad', I haven't seen this sort of concentration of British ex pats in one place, well.. since I went to Bondi last, it was truly astounding. I did find out later that the organisers are themselves POMs, which may have something to do with it.. But one thing can be said, get the Brits into some sun with some good music and they sure know how to party!

The first night progressed nicely, Aussie band You Am I played to a faithful crowd and those of us lucky enough to get into the festival on time to catch Cut Copy's set were not disappointed, they rallied the crowd into a veritable dancing frenzy. Finishing up the night on the main stage was Tricky, who played an interesting set,  at about the fourth or fifth song he got around 100 punters past security up on stage, then headed to the bar himself, never to return..

The next day brought the sun in all its blazing glory, and the humidity followed, it was sweaty to say the least.  But it's not as if there weren't options for cooling off. For the quieter more natural experience there was the river to immerse yourself in. However for those not ready to hang up the dancing flip flops there was 'Club Tropicana', a DJ set up in the corner of the myriad of pools and a bar at the other end made for a fun way to get through the days heat and gear up for the evening ahead.

Saturday night was upon us and was definitely the peak of the festival. It was also fancy dress night. Having been to many half arsed  fancy dress nights in my time I was expecting a similar thing here.. maybe a mask here or there, I mean after all everyone had to lug there paraphernalia to the ferry and then to their campsite. This minor fact didn't seem to hinder anyone, and I have never before seen such elaborate and well thought out costumes en masse in my time. The fact that it was definitely the late 30s if not early 40s temperature wise and the humidity was roaring didn't seem hinder peoples commitment to their ensembles one bit, I can imagine quite well, the rivers of sweat cascading through these outfits. It did however add another seriously fun element to the nights proceedings, dancing with a Black Swan, a shower or even a giant penis certainly added to the giggles of the night.

Over at the main stage where everyone had congregated for the fancy dress prizes, it was perfect timing for Kool & the Gang to burst their way onto the stage and hype everyone up into the fun times they were itching to have, and fun they had, random bits of costume flying willy nilly. Architecture in Helsinki kept the good times flowing with their light disco beats and were followed up by De La Soul who even managed to crank the audience up to the next gear. I wandered over to catch some of Norman Jay's set in the Big Top, and much to my surprise  found I still had the energy to have one last boogie before crawling into my tent that night.

It was Sunday and the winding down had begun, the heat was still doing it's bit, however it had let up ever so slightly. Today was the day stages like The Shack and The Riverstage came into their own. The Shack, sponsored by community radio station 2SER was a great platform for local bands like Slow Down Honey to cut their festival teeth and gain a following the old fashioned way, by playing a great set.

The Riverstage, as it's name suggests was arranged with the view of the river in mind, and on a Sunday afternoon it was the perfect place to unwind into some banging drum and bass, the likes of which I have not heard since my days in the UK.

Bands like The Beautiful Girls helped wind down the festival on the main stage and as the sun set on the last night lighting up the sky with the most glorious colours I felt satisfied that I had finally made it to the Playground Weekender Festival and knew that I would do my darnedest to get back here again. I can safely say that it is true what they say about this festival, it really is one of the friendliest crowds, perhaps its the slightly older age group or the many Brits happy to feel the sunshine, but I for one certainly felt the love over this playful weekend.