Big Red Bash

Been following some posts on Facebook, CSeaJay, and by all reports it was very good.

Was cold, noisy & crowded too, what with 9,000 on site. I went in 2015, and the 3,500 crowd was huge then. Might make the effort for next year?

Seems to be a lot of crowd participation now, Line Dancing record attempts, fancy dress & huge "mosh" pit.

Lengthy line ups for fuel at Windorah, Birdsville & even to a smaller extent in Winton.

Bob

We have some very happy campers here at Kilcowera, raving about the Bash. Said the organisation and the volunteers were wonderful. They are here to unwind for a few days before heading home. Also a larger group who also loved it. It seems the larger crowd doesn't worry the city people. Sort of just like where they have come from - they can just replicate the crowds, the noise, the busyness of home and feel right at home while doing so. I for one am happy that I went to it a few years ago. Cheers from a very chilly Kilcowera. Toni

9000!
When I went last there were 3 to 4,000 people and that caused long queues then, as well as traffic on the roads in and out.
I think I may add the BRB to other events such as the Finke race etc. as a time to avoid that area lol

The dust at the venue was unbelievable. A lot of bash veterans were wearing dust masks. I’ll do the same if I go again.
The artists were awesome. Farnham not only excelled himself, he was a crackup between songs.
Food varied in quality, but there was a reasonable variety.

The vibe of the place was great. I didn’t witness any agro at all. In fact just about everyone you passed in camp said gidday or had a chat.
I waited for an hour 35 for fuel in Windorah, and the same in Birdsville on the way there. On the way home I waited about 40 mins for fuel in Wndorah.
One thing I did notice was that Windorah was a price gouge for food. $10 for a sandwich or roll. $25 for a $10 value ‘barbecue’ at the pub. Having said that, the service at the pub was excellent, a couple of Irish blokes tending the bar.

Birdsville bakery was completely unprepared, and had run out of just about everything days before the event. On our way out they had almost nothing for sale except muffins (the sweet type). Some forward planning would have made them an even bigger motza than they did.

We left the site on the second day of exits. Both Birdsville dump points were full, so we had to take our black water to Windorah. Lucky we didn’t have a cassette toilet.

I have been RBT’d 6 times in 30 years. 3 of those were over 6 days going to, or leaving the area. Kweensland’s finest at work.

Overall, it was a good experience. Next time I’ll take steps to prevent whatever negative points written above from happening.

I was travelling with a mate, who was towing a supposedly ‘off road’ Skamper Kamper Ranger. Both his lower shock mounts sheared, and his water tank was damaged, causing the loss of all its water. Lucky he had a couple of jerries of water as well.

Ran into plenty of people leaving the bash as we came down the Oodnadatta Track to Farina and onto the Strzelecki And Merty Merty Tracks to Cameron Corner the past few days. The Merty Merty has copped a hammering from the traffic on it the past few weeks, big holes to be found over crests of dunes and decent corrugations have claimed a few trailers the past few days....Tuesday had a dual axle caravan lose it's back wheels and axle, and Monday had a camper trailer roll over occur.

We loved the Bash, it was an awesome experience and the performers were all amazing. I think they will have to cap the number of attendees as the resources of many towns were overloaded.

The Thursday before the Bash Marree ran out of diesel, Birdsville had diesel supply problems, Windorah had fuel supply issues and if reports are to be believed Charleville which promoted a half way to the Bash party it was almost impossible to get a beer or a feed on the Friday.