Nimbin returns to its roots

AUSTRALIA’S counterculture capital will celebrate in all its glory when the Nimbin Roots Festival returns from October 25 to 27.Around 1000 people are expected to attend the event, which will feature a ‘clothes optional’ venue with body painting and a naked DJ.The annual Peace and Love Parade will also be clothes optional this year, festival founder Lou Bradley said.

The first Nimbin Roots Festival was held in 2016, with everyone from Shane Howard to the chart-topping 1980s band Eurogliders performing over the years.

The 2024 line-up includes Ross Wilson, Pierce Brothers, Hussy Hicks, Rod McCormack and Dog Trumpet, which features Mambo artist Reg Mombassa and his brother Peter O’Doherty of Mental As Anything fame.

There will also be various workshops and a psychedelic light show.

Bradley said she wanted to create a music festival that wasn’t about who and who wasn’t the most famous, but purely for promoting good quality, original music.

“I’m a singer-songwriter myself so I’ve really made sure that the event has good artistic credibility,” she said. “Because it’s run in venues throughout the village, it makes it very up close and personal for both the acts and the audience. Plus of course Nimbin isn’t just any ordinary village, so people love to come in and people watch.

“Nimbin is the counterculture capital of Australia. Anything seems possible in Nimbin. There’s no living in the square there, so it’s a very comfortable place for creatives.

“I think our ethos of keeping our festival as close to its artistic roots as possible fits in well with Nimbin. Nimbin Roots Festival is a very chilled and unique festival too — just like Nimbin.”

A bus will run from Lismore Showground transporting festivalgoers to the event at a cost of $10 per day.

For more information and tickets, visit nimbinrootsfest.com