Unify - A Heavy Music Gathering

Alex
Jan 15, 2018
6 min read

Friday 12th January - Sunday 14th January 2018

Tarwin Lower, VIC

This year I finally managed to attend Unify, after years of waiting and never being able to find friends into the same kind of music.

I was eager to attend as I had heard nothing but good online.

Packing - My friend and I had to change our usual camping packing technique as we discovered you cannot camp next to your vehicle. This meant we had to carry our camp gear from the carpark to the camping area, so:

- a full esky (usually we would have a car fridge)

- 2 swags, sleeping bags, air mattresses

-1 camp chair (mine was still in dads car from the previous weekend.. oops!)

- a gazebo (shade tent)

- clothes bags

- slabs

Now, neither of us are necessarily super strong or fit, so this was a bit daunting, but we managed with only 2 trips! We also discovered a week prior to the festival that there was no cooking equipment allowed, which threw another spanner into the works of our usual camping routine.

We managed the weekend without cooking by taking a lot of fruit, snacks, and budgeting to purchase food on site.

Aside from those minor issues, the weekend went ahead well.

Once we got on site, the line to get into the festival wasn't as long as we were expecting, we parked and gathered our belongings for the first treck to set up camp. Once inside the campgrounds we picked a spot, most of the camping was already full, so we were up the back (actually a benefit as we didn't have to carry our belongings as far from the car!). The walk from campsite to stage wasn't bad either, however, before we could enter the actual festival site we needed to line up to get our wristbands. The idea itself is not a bad one, as you have preloaded funds on your wristband, meaning the festival was cashless and you didnt have to worry about losing your wallet etc, however, having 7500 people lining up on day one to get their wristbands and load money onto them was not ideal. The lines did move quickly though! But there were many comments. I have been to a festival previously where they had the cashless system and it worked fantastically, possibly in part due to the wristbands being sent out prior to the festival and individuals only having to queue to add money. UNIFY also allowed online top-up prior to the festival, which a fair few people did. Unfortunately once I got to the front of the line, cash in hand to put on my wristband, the teller I went to had a broken till and could not take my money, so I had to line up again at a second top-up point. Not the end of the world obviously, however did cause some frustration and more comments from patrons. I believe next year they will iron out those issues however.

* Friday *

We arrived on site and managed to set up camp before the rain set in! Gazebo set up and both swags, so once it started raining we were sheltered and thankfully could stay dry for a bit longer, however this didn't last too long as we obviously wanted to go see bands! We rugged up in jumpers and rain jackets and made our way into the arena for the night.

We decided on a nap before heading in as we weren't too phased to see the first few bands and were both exhausted. We headed into the arena at about 5.30 and saw Polaris and did not leave until around 1.30am after Parkway Drive, who's set was incredible!

Somewhere in amongst the bands I also managed to sell a hair tie for $5 which was fantastic! I had 4 more in my car so was not concerned with loosing the one from my head at the time, and hey, $5 is a very generous offer!

* Saturday *

After having a fairly poor sleep due to our noisy neighbours yelling about needing drugs... We started Saturday slowly. We were both awake early however stayed in our swags keeping warm as the winds had picked up dramatically. We lazed around until around 2.00 when I received a text from a friend also at the festival and met up. We then trudged over to his campsite, met his mates and started playing a board game they had set up rules with as a drinking game. My friend knew someone in one of the bands, so we headed in to see them at around 4.50, after their set we went back to the campsite to continue with the game. At around 7.30 we made our way back into the arena for the night, watched the bands we wanted to, ate some dinner and chatted. We did not leave until around 2am when Amity Affliction finished their extended set. I was very happy to see them and hear them play some of their older songs, even though I could not sing along due to having no voice.

* Sunday *

I woke at around 6.40am (not much fun after a 3am bedtime) laying on the ground. My air mattress had been leaking all weekend quite severely meaning within half an hour of being pumped up, my hip would be on the ground. So, awake after around 4hrs sleep, on the ground, and the sun was starting to shine so more and more people were waking also. I knew I was not going to get back to sleep even for a nap, so started to pack up my swag. I rolled out what little air was left in my mattress and rolled up my swag. I then woke up my friend and we started to completely pack up. We were done quite quickly and were allowed to move our car closer to the gate for easy pack up. As we left early, there was no line to get out of the festival site and not much traffic on the roads. We had a quick stop at Maccas (hello clean plumbed toilets!) and continued on our way.

All in all the festival was a lovely experience, I am very glad I got to see the bands I did and it ran quite smoothly (aside from wristband issues and some technical issues with the 2nd last band of Saturday night)

I was quite worried about having to carry camping gear but I think camping at the back of the site was the best idea. Much easier to walk to the arena than to carry gear further!

I would definitely attend the festival again and cannot wait to see it grow further.

Unfortunately I do not have any photos of the weekend as I did not have my phone on me for most of it.

Packing tips

I have a small car (2010 i30) and manage quite well packing a lot in. I would not have been able to take more than 2 people on this trip however as we took the gazebo and to fit that I need to fold down my back seats. I don't really have any packing tips for this festival, was pretty basic. 2 swags either side of the gazebo (which rests between the two front seats of my car and right to the back of the boot) an esky to one side of the boot, 2 backpacks and a camp chair. really not a whole lot to try and fit in thankfully.

Things I wish I had taken

More than one pair of jeans

a 2nd, or warmer jumper

snow jacket - I decided against this as it was only supposed to be light rain on Friday...

Things I could have left at home

We didn't really use the camp chair, We sat at our friends site or we were in the arena or sitting in our swags hiding from the weather. If the weather was nicer I think we would have used it more than we did.

Costs including entry, site costs and food (if camping)

The cost of the ticket was around $200 from memory, car pass was $30 but this was redeemable in festival money if you had more than 3 people in the car, camping was included in the ticket and the rest of the cost for the weekend was dependant on you. As stated above, no cooking was allowed but there were food trucks, we packed fruit and nibbles and bought hot food for lunch and dinner. The festival was also BYO - non limited, just no glass. There were bars in the arena however as that was a licensed area so you could not take your own alcohol in (however many did smuggle).

Items/equipment needed

A tent or swag

Sleeping bag

Mattress (foam or air)

Torch - however most of the site was well lit

Esky

Gazebo - very good protection from the weather!

Many people used trollies to transport their belongings from car to camp which I thought was a fab idea!

Ear plugs would also have been handy.

Sights in nearby towns, attractions and things to do

Unfortunately I did not stop at an info desk, however Tarwin looks like a beautiful coastal town!

Things I may do differently next time