THE BYRON SHIRE ECHO Advertising & news enquiries: Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au Available early Tuesday at: http://www.echo.net.au VOLUME 23 #09 TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2008 22,700 copies every week Printed on recycled paper
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Devo, drug dogs and white rabbits at Splendour
Ballooning enthusiasm was the order of the day for these two friends at the Splendour festival on the weekend. Many more photos by our photographers will be found online in the events section of our image gallery at www.echo.net.au. Photo Jeff ‘Hang On To Your Heads’ Dawson
Mandy Nolan It really was a splendid sunny weekend at Splendour in the Grass when thousands of festival goers made their annual sojourn to Belongil Fields for what is fast becoming a cult youth festival. The event was managed with incredible efficiency with traffic and pedestrian queues moving swiftly and increased security and fencing acting as the most effective fence jumping strategy to date. There was an increased police presence on arrival with drug detection dogs sniffing punters on arrival, who seemed undeterred by the attention. In fact, I spotted many Paris Hilton lookalikes cooing over police dogs on their way into the festival. The large crowd of predominantly under 25s revelled in the
festival atmosphere, and as an attendee I have to admit they were the nicest bunch of kids I’ve been around in some time, any time I got jostled, I got an instant ‘sorry about that, tall lady.’ A spokesperson from the North Coast Area Health Service reinforced the relatively low key nature of the event by reporting that ‘it was a pretty good weekend, and that Splendour admission numbers were low and were mostly drug and alcohol related.’ On site audiences were treated to an impressive lineup which culminated in two show highlights for this more senior festival goer. Sigur Ros packed the Supertop, proving why they’ve been hailed as one of the best new live acts on the global scene. But it was Devo that I’d call the
act of the Splendour 08. Looking like a bunch of 50 year old accountants in overalls the guys were really tight, and the 80s synth had a very contemporary sound. ‘Whip It’ really is a very funny song, and it was delightful to see kids born
in the year of its release dancing and singing along. With such a well-managed event this year, it will be interesting to watch Festival organisers make the transition to the Yelgun site for their one year trial.
Art classic resurrected Byron Bay’s iconic Easter Art Classic is to be resurrected, albeit with a different name and different date. Open to all artists in a wide range of media who are over 16 years of age and live in the Byron Shire the new Byron Art Expo will replace the Easter Art Classic as a community art exhibition. The current management committee of the Byron Bay Community Association, which
includes two of the organisers of the original Classic, Jan Dawkins and Jani Collins, is reviving the art competition. If you classify yourself as an amateur, professional, doodler or dabbler, enter your piece de résistance. The exhibition will run from June 5 to 12 in the Byron Community Cultural Centre. Enquiries 6685 6807 Ext 5 or go to www.byroncentre.com.au.
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Artisan night market gets trial Byron Shire Council voted last week to approve a trial of the Byron Artisan Market in Railway Park, Byron Bay, to be held on a trial basis for six months from October this year. The market is seen as a vital fundraiser for the ByronYouth Service’s Street Cruise program, which assists youth to stay safe on the streets of Byron Bay at night. During public access last Thursday, BYS director Paul Spooner told Councillors the market proposal was a recommendation from the recent Byron Social Forum and is supported by arts and crafts people from the Byron Shire. ‘It is endorsed by the management committee of Byron Youth Service and supported by local business operators surrounding Railway Park,’ Mr Spooner said. ‘This includes The Byronian Café, The Corner Store, and The Railway Friendly Bar. ‘Inspector Owen King of Byron Bay Police supports the trial being undertaken, if approved by the Council, as does Yvonne Stewart of the Arakwal Corporation. In fact, Yvonne has requested that a stall be devoted to the displaying of local indigenous arts and crafts.’
‘Healthy public space’ Mr Spooner said the night market would ‘create a healthy public space environment in downtown Byron Bay on a Saturday night that does not revolve around the consumption of alcohol. To quote urban planning specialist and writer William H Whyte: “So-called undesirables are not the problem. It is the measures taken to combat them that is the problem. The best way to handle the problem of undesirables is to make the place attractive to everyone else.” ‘In other words, let’s attempt to make the centre of Byron Bay a funky, cultural place to be for everyone from local residents to tourists, on at least one night a week. Railway Park is the obvious place for such an initiative to be developed. continued on page 2