Oliver Williams

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Splendour In The Grass TIPI FOREST 2016

VIDEO EDIT: Cadu Cassau & Tone Wonderland; CAMERAS: Av Wonderland, Cadu Cassau, Byron Film, Kitty Wildflower, Andre Santos, Andy Taylor (Drone); MUSIC MIX: O...

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Splendour in the Grass 2017 ‘Extra-Musical’ Experience - Tipi Forest

The modern music festival is a site of interaction between thousands of people, artists, vendors, musicians and technologies. To attendees, the success of a festival is relative to the environment that the musical performances are perceived in: the art, the vendors, the visuals, and the guests. Event organisers incorporate ‘extra-musical’ activities into the festival catalogue to enhance experiences, creative expression and community.

An iconic destination on the Splendour journey, the Tipi Forest is the creative heart of Splendour in the Grass. This space is a festivalgoers’ personal playground of music, art and magic - a space to be immersed, delightful and inspired.

Splendour in the Grass’ Tipi Forest is a landmark that has existed since the festival's inception, and acts as a trusted location to chill out from the full festival revelry or a place to settle when you don’t want the party to end. Here Splendourites can discover extraordinary visuals, performers, dancers, video, lighting and sculptural arts, surrounding an organic, bare earth dance floor.

The forest is open until 2am every night of the festival and features underground sounds and alternative beats supported by insane light shows, acrobats, dancers and fire twirlers. Splendour organisers state that the Tipi Forest is an environment to get lost within and expand your festival experience.

It is safe to say that most Splendour In The Grass punters (myself included) have a fond and perplexing memory of the Tipi Forest. My first interaction with this ‘extra-musical’ attraction came on my first trip to Splendour in the Grass in 2017. The allure of this “wild and magical” place had been cultivated by my more experienced Splendourite friends who talked non-stop about it during the lead up to the festival. As one of the only must-do of the Thursday night before the festival, I ventured deep into the parklands in search of the Tipi Forest. The heavy bass and laser-fuelled glow around the circle of tipi huts made the spot a highlight within the trees and acted as a magnet to those passing by. Upon entry (very sober at this stage) I was overwhelmed by the flock of festivalgoers crammed amongst the mash of pulsing beats, lights, symbols, fire and performers.

The following night I made my way back to the Tipi Forest (significantly less sober this time) and truly discovered what the hype was all about. On an extremely cold night, the mass of bodies served as a warm, safe place; a place where we could all be collectively “lost” yet comfortable. The Splendour organisers did a fantastic job of creating a space that people can remove themselves from reality and let go for hours. The Tipi Forest served as an immersive experience that fostered a community atmosphere that embodied everything that Splendour is about.

Since my experience at the Tipi Forest, this destination has become a must-do item on my 2018 Splendour in the Grass checklist.

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RL Grime closing out the show at FOMO 2018.

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Facebook promotion for the FOMO 2018 line-up announcement.

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Working for FOMO Festival 2018

FOMO festival has rapidly shot to the top of many festival goers “must hit list” after a run of ultra successful shows featuring big ticket artists. This year’s festival cemented the project as a calendar event with a line-up boasting high profile international names and a nice selection of homegrown favourites. FOMO was an event founded on one simple idea; one stage, no clashes.

As a promoter and events assistant for the Oh Hello! and BBE organisations, I was excited to be given the opportunity to work with such a large-scale and highly publicised event. My role was to push ticket sales, share content and generate hype via social media, in addition to volunteering on the day to help with ticketing. This proved to be a fun yet challenging experience that provided me with an in-depth look into the music and events industry. With my sights set on becoming an events manager, specifically for music festivals, my time involved with FOMO was the greatest foot-in-the-door opportunity I could have asked for.

With the announcement that the festival would be making a return in 2018, promotions started in August 2017 (5 months prior to the Brisbane date). Video content was shared over Facebook and Instagram to raise awareness and encourage festivalgoers to sign-up for presale tickets. The real stimulating information came in early September (conveniently on my 20th birthday) - the FOMO 2018 line-up was dropped! Tickets went on sale immediately after the announcement of headliners RL Grime, Post Malone and SZA, and was so well received that Moshtix almost crashed due to such high demand. My social media posts were met with great excitement and generated more ‘likes’ and a further reach than expected. Marketing material including photos, videos and articles were posted on my accounts for the next 4 months leading up to the Brisbane leg of the festival on January 6. Because of FOMOs reputation, the line-up and the implementation of a strong promotional campaign, the Brisbane event sold out 10,000 tickets in less than 2 days.

On the day of the event, I was recruited to volunteer and assist the events operators with ticketing. My shift proved to be one of the most intensive volunteering experiences I’ve been a part of due to the mass influx of festivalgoers at certain times. With a team of 10, we successfully greeted, scanned and wristbanded over 9000 attendees in 4 hours. The chaos was definitely a character building experience that was both stressful and gratifying. In light of the trauma, the remaining hours of the festival that I was able to experience tasted that much sweeter.

Volunteering is also a fantastic opportunity to meet new people and network with industry contacts. During my shift, I was able to track down the events manager and her team to introduce myself and ask questions about the festival, its operations and some points about the industry. This 10-minute conversation has transformed into an internship position with SP Events, planning and preparing for upcoming music events and FOMO 2019. Upon reflection, promoting and volunteering at FOMO festival was an invaluable experience that was a turning point in my prospective career.