Easterfest – A Place to Be With Your People 

If you were one of the tens of thousands of people who would make the annual Easter pilgrimage up the range to Toowoomba, it was a sure bet you had community at the forefront of your mind. 

The experience of Easterfest was more than just a music festival, it was really a unity movement that gave festivalgoers a weekend spent with their peers. 

The Easterfest experience is the topic of the third episode of 96five’s brand new podcast series ‘The Rise & Fall of Easterfest’. 

Dr Aaron Tkaczynski is a Senior Lecturer in tourism and events at the University of Queensland’s Business School, who had surveyed Easterfest attendees to find out their motivation for attending. 

“ What we found was that we’d say, you’re going along to see this great band, but, you know, surprisingly, the major motivation people went along for was very much to spend time with other like-minded people.” 

Aside from the music aspect, the Easterfest experience was an eclectic mix of activities – with extreme sports, lectures from guest speakers, forums and workshops, kids activities, with one year even boasting a rodeo! 

“As an event organiser, you’re always trying to put together a combination of things that people will like. You want it to be attractional for people to come, and then once they’re there, you’ve got to give them a great time,” former Easterfest CEO Isaac Moody told ‘The Rise & Fall of Easterfest’. 

“ We tried everything over the years. I remember doing snowboarding in Queen’s Park, where we trucked in lots of ice and then smashed it all up and towed people behind motorbikes on snowboards.  We did a rodeo one year, and not everyone’s a fan of rodeos! People either love them or hate them. It was a bit controversial and that only happened one year, but it was a good amount of fun.” 

One Easterfest attraction that had an absolute cult following was the Red Frogs Coliseum, which boasted BMX, motocross and skateboarding demonstrations, DJ’s, MC’s and rave parties. 

The Coliseum was run by Red Frogs founder Andy Gourley. 

“ It was the coliseum of mayhem! We had two crazy MC’s and we’ve always had great gee up guys that would work up the crowd with a lot of shenanigans and random crowd games and entertainment,” said Andy Gourley. 

“ Our thing was keeping energy, keeping a lot of crazy activities and games for the the young punks up there that needed to burn off energy so they wouldn’t get up to no good later in the night.  And kids would come for that – it was some of the most fun stuff they did up there, which we loved.” 

So loved was the Red Frogs Coliseum that many of the teenagers who hung out there would eventually become Red Frogs volunteers themselves. 

 “We actually engaged with a lot of twelve to fifteen year olds over a long period of time,” Andy told the podcast. 

“When they got to eighteen, they all wanted to do Red Frogs because they knew us from Easterfest.  So Easterfest basically became some of our first touch points with future froggers. Then when they started the schoolies and university stage of their life, they came and volunteered with Red Frogs which was fantastic.” 

The third episode of ‘The Rise & Fall of Easterfest’ is in your podcast feed right now, where you’ll hear more about the festival experience. 

You’ll hear from people who met their husbands and wives at the event, including two photographers who met through an Easterfest photo. 

You’ll hear how connections and ideas sparked at the festival would go on to impact members of the Royal Family, and how Easterfest would promote unity and community with the performers who graced the stages. 

Listen now in your podcast app, in the players on this page, or at the 96five podcast page. 

Don’t forget to leave a 5 star rating and a review to help other Easterfest fans find the podcast! 

Main Image: Fans watching a BMX demonstration from JC Epidemic at Easterfest 2011 (Trent Rouillon).