Across 20 years, Rainbow Serpent has grown from an predominantly psy and progressive trance gathering into an international music, arts and lifestyle festival boasting a diverse range of DJs, producers, sculpture, performance and workshops.
Organiser Tim Harvey is one of a few, full-time employees of the festival, bringing his knowledge and experience as both a DJ and festival patron to produce the highest-quality experience. “I’ve been to every single Rainbow Serpent bar the very first one,” Tim says.
“We’re up to number 19 now so I’ve been to 18 of them. I DJd at Rainbow before I actually started to work for them and a lot of the other guys that do the programming have been coming to Rainbow since the beginning and also have been involved with playing at the festival. Rainbow is about participating and opening yourself up to opportunities."
In his main role as marketing director, Tim works with a dedicated team of music-industry professionals to ensure Rainbow’s musical line-up provides a broad range of acts across the spectrum of music, including trance, techno, glitch, and more recently gypsy and swing. “We’ve all been involved in the scene from the very beginning and we have a really good understanding of what works and why diversity is so important, we’re very passionate about it.
“Everyone tends to commit a lot of their energy and a lot of their time into making sure that each Rainbow is a unique entity music wise, and a lot of care and attention goes into the programming to ensure the flow works across all the stages. “It’s not about stacking the line-up it full of big names, we like to source up-and-coming artists as well as artists that some people may never have heard before.”
Tim says the inclusion of obscure, up-and-coming or even unheard of acts brings a unique charm to Rainbow that makes it standout as an event. “From the feedback we get on the forums and social media quite often people come to Rainbow not knowing half of the acts that are playing, but they have faith in the fact that we wouldn’t have chosen them if we didn’t think they would work.
“Every year we get fantastic feedback from the music line-up, and also from the lifestyle and arts activities; Rainbow is not just about the music these days and it’s about that broad range of experiences on offer across all different facets.”
With John Digweed, Hernan Cattaneo and Ace Ventura among others already confirmed for the 2016 bill, Rainbow Serpent is already shaping-up to be one of the biggest events of the New Year. “In general, there are dedicated performance stages, then there’s roaming artistic performance; there is a full programme of lifestyle workshops that include speakers, workshops, yoga and interesting talks.”
Adding to the inclusive and accessible atmosphere Rainbow aims to foster, the festival offers a family-friendly area, set away from the dancefloors with activities and events for both children and parents. “We have a dedicated, lifestyle area of the festival which you walk separately into and there’s all of these activities, including a kids space with dedicated kids’ activities, and we’re growing the family camping area this year because we’ve noticed a lot of our patrons are getting older as the festival goes on and they’re bringing their children to the festival.”
Rainbow Serpent has become more than a festival; over its lifetime it has grown into an intergenerational, bonding experience. “Last year we had three generations in one campsite,” Tim boasts, “so we had the grandma, the daughter and then the daughter of the daughter, so that was a great representation of the broad appeal of our festival.”
Throughout its tenure, the festival has consistently adapted and evolved to offer a well-rounded experience that incorporates the developing tastes of its loyal, eclectic fanbase and encourages patrons to participate by direct involvement. “Apart from the DJs and producers, we have a stage dedicated to live music now that’s called The Playground. We have great gypsy and swing music and some crazy performances happening there as well.
“Then we have our theme camps, where we encourage participation from our patrons to register a theme camp and come and build their own interactive space and open their camps up to other Rainbow patrons to experience.
“It’s that contribution to the total experience and we always want our patrons to play a role in the weekend; Rainbow is about participating and opening yourself up to opportunities and becoming involved and theme camps is just one of the ways we hope people do that.”
Rainbow Serpent Festival takes place in Lexton, Victoria, 22-25 January, 2016.
