Mundi Mundi Bash 2022: a long way to rock for adventurous music fans
About 8000 people have gathered for the three-day Mundi Mundi Bash, which debuted in April at Belmont Station, about 35km northwest of Broken Hill.
Walk around the campgrounds at the Mundi Mundi Bash and a quick scan of licence plates will help to tell the story of the collective effort required to get here.
This isn’t the sort of gig you simply fly to: instead, vehicles from Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria sit side-by-side, as music fans converge in far western NSW for the outback festival’s second edition.
About 8000 people have gathered for the three-day camping event, which debuted in April at Belmont Station, about 35km northwest of Broken Hill.
Among the travellers getting revved up for Thursday night’s headline act Midnight Oil was the Toland family, who had taken three days to drive 1500km from their home near Brisbane.
“It’s a bit of a hike, but it’s all part of the experience of the thing,” said Joe Toland with a grin.
For the married couple of nine years, it was all about sharing the novelty of another remote trip with their children, after the family completed a successful test run out to Winton’s Way Out West festival in Queensland last year.
“It’s not easy to take three kids this far in the car – but it’s worth it,” said Zoe Toland. “They’re well-travelled; we’ve been overseas with them, but since Covid hit, that’s when we started travelling in Australia.”
Missy Higgins, Richard Clapton and The Wolfe Brothers performed on Thursday afternoon, before a pop-up town that organisers have dubbed Mundiville.
Event director Lucas Trihey has overseen all nine editions of its Queensland sister festival Big Red Bash, held near the small town of Birdsville, and he has watched this style of remote music festival become a strong draw for tourists of all ages.
“The crowd was exceptionally well behaved in April, and I think a really big part of that is there’s so many families and kids here: if anyone’s going to be a boofhead, they don’t push it too much,” he said. “It’s also a BYO alcohol event, and it’s undeniable that that has a really positive effect on behaviour.
“There’s not the urgency to consume, or over-consume, that there is at some other festivals. People come in, enjoy the music, have plenty to drink and a great time – but they don’t get stupid.”
The festival continues on Friday with acts such as the Rolling Stones Revue and Jon Stevens, while Kasey Chambers and Jimmy Barnes will close the final night on Saturday.
The writer travelled to Broken Hill as a guest of Mundi Mundi Bash.
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