There’s nothing that brings out the best creativity in people than the annual pilgrimage to the Victorian countryside for Meredith Music Festival. Put the whole thing on hold for a couple of years and the costuming efforts only get stronger, better and weirder.
The combination of the first visit to the Supernatural Amphitheatre (AKA the ‘sup) and the celebration of Meredith’s 30th (!!!) birthday turned many a costume from simple (but effective) colour-blocking to fully fleshed-out themed group ideas.
PEDESTRIAN.TV pulled its boots on and returned to the country’s most hallowed festival to see what Aunty had in store, and boy did she deliver.
Things kicked off on Friday when I met possibly the greatest solo costume of the whole weekend. A bloke was offering free haircuts, but there was one catch: he was only doing reverse mohawks like the one he was sporting.
He handed me his festival-specific business card which called for all his clients over the weekend to meet at the red tree on Sunday morning for the inaugural reverse mohawk forum.
I found my first crusty crustacean of the weekend deep in the dancefloor a while later, which felt like a good indicator of the chaos that was to come.
Saturday was the day that all the costume boxes were raided and the real masterpieces were put on display. With no real theme for the weekend beyond “come and get wonderfully weird with your mates”, we were treated to a smorgasbord of incredible, intricate artistry.
Our first scout/guides group of the weekend was giving massive Moonrise Kingdom energies, which we love.
I spotted this gorgeous gingham gal over in the Southbank food court while waiting for a coffee. She told me she wanted to create something ridiculous for her return to Meredith, but was worried it was maybe a little too weird.
Why? Because her headpiece was entirely beans.
There’s no such thing as “too weird” in the Meredith ‘sup. As Cady Heron famously said, the limit does not exist.
Five seconds later I spotted this take on Madeline with the most turbo Miss Clavel I’ve ever seen. They were walking in two lines in height order and stopped to recite their pre-meal prayer before toddling off into the dusty day ahead.
These legends admitted they did this costume largely so they could find each other in the heaving crowd. Our superstar footballer at the front drew the short straw back at camp and had to kit up for the first half of the day until someone else had a party foul.
It’s the attention to detail that made me love this group setup — the headsets, the foul flags, the whistles — everything was so on point. Minimal effort, maximum results.
Meredith is known to be the place of blossoming romances, surprise engagements and the odd wedding. Hell, there’s a leopard-print archway set up on the hill every year for this exact reason.
While wandering back to my campsite I came across this stunning wedding party headed down to the stage. I’m not too sure who was planning to tie the festival knot (maybe all of them?) but I love the mother-in-law energy of the bloke in the teal dress and pearls up the back.
Another scout group approaches! After we snapped this sweet shot they told me they were going to fight the other scout patrol on the playground later. It is unconfirmed who came out of the weekend as victors of the Meredith festival jamboree, but I can only assume it was the group who was the most prepared.
Every trip to the Supernatural Amphitheatre usually involves an interplanetary visit and this year’s martian mama was no exception. It’s the alien finger gloves that really sets this one apart from all the other extraterrestrials sighted over the weekend.
From outer space to deep beneath the sea, it’s always fun to see a group with varying levels of dedication and work put into their costumes. Maybe you’ll just wear a Katy Perry left shark onesie and maybe you’ll craft an entire crustacean mask out of silver cardboard.
As Saturday rolled into Sunday and tired bodies were either collapsed on the couches encircling the dusty dance floor or trudging back to bed for a nap during the scheduled silence wedge (AKA the best set of the day), it was time to check in with our Meredith festival barber.
He told me he’d shaved “14 and a half” heads across the weekend, including one indecisive person who chickened out halfway through. Lo and behold, four of his clients — fresh salads and all — filtered in at 10.30am for the inaugural annual reverse mohawk forum.
Look at ’em. A thing of god damned beauty. Incredible that the best costume of the whole weekend was one that slowly built up over the course of the festival.
The absolute power this photo has. Simply thrumming with energy. Full shoutout to these blokes who put their lids on the line for the sake of the party.
It’s no question that the return of Meredith Music Festival was filled with special moments, surprise appearances (looking at you, Private Function and Joanne) and perfect sunsets. Sometimes you just gotta keep your eyes peeled for the real magic.
See you in the ‘sup in March for Golden Plains.
