The Most Remote Musical Festival on the Planet

The Big Red Bash is held 39 km west of Birdsville on private property, with a stage for the artists performing over three days and nights against a 40-metre-high sand dune backdrop. Big Red is the largest and first major dune to cross if you're heading west across the Simpson Desert.

Adria Downs is an organic cattle property, and one of the conditions for camping there is that no greywater is allowed to be poured on the ground. There is a facility to siphon your greywater into, but no provision for emptying your toilet cassette.

Although the event organisers supply toilets, we prefer to use our own. Considering we are staying for five days, we purchased an extra toilet cassette just in case.

Our van's grey water tank holds 90 litres, so showers will be limited during our stay. Buying several packs of extra-large wet wipes as backup was also a smart move.

Our early entry pass allowed us to arrive at the "Bash" site two days before the music officially started. Mal Leyland gave a talk on one of these days, along with a screening of one of their films on the large screen. After the movie, the crowd was given the chance to ask Mal questions about his life, which we all found very interesting.

His fondest memory of the 1966 crossing of Australia was seeing rain cascading down Ayers Rock/Uluru.

This was our first "Bash" attendance, so we're not entirely sure whether we will enjoy the experience or not. No doubt time will tell.

Our decision to take out insurance in case of breakdown or illness was also a good move, especially considering we paid $1200 for the experience.

When camping, our preference is to avoid crowds whenever possible, but we thought we would give the "Bash" the benefit of the doubt and see what it's like to be surrounded by thousands of people. In this case, 10,000 attended.

On Saturday morning, July 7th, the "Bash" office opened, allowing for the mandatory car stickers and wristbands to be organised before heading out to Big Red. We also purchased some of the merchandise on offer at the same time.

First thing on Sunday morning, we were hooked up and ready to rock' n' roll just before 7:30 am. We joined the queue of 4WDs, caravans, and camper trailers on the slow, dusty trip out to Big Red. At times, speeds dropped below 40 km/h; at that time of the morning, there was very little wind.

Although we have been to Big Red before, we have never travelled in a convoy with so many others. I was totally surprised that the trip there only took one hour and fifteen minutes.

Impressive organisation has gone into moving so many people in such an orderly manner, but this is the fifth year, so they have had time to perfect it.

The headline act at this year's "Bash" is John Farnham, supported by acts such as the Hoodoo Gurus, The Angels, Daryl Braithwaite, John Stevens, Kate Ceberano, Adam Brand, Russell Morris, The Black Sorrows, The Wolfe Brothers, and Amber Lawrence.

It was wonderful to meet Mal Leyland. Later in the day, we wandered up and purchased a signed copy of his 2015 book, "Still Travelling."

Each day, we enjoyed wandering around the camping area, checking out others' setups. There were road vans, so-called off-road vans, and real off-road vans, as well as numerous different makes of camper trailers. There were also many tents and swags, just like we used to camp in when we were younger. Thank God that's over with!

Our early daily ritual was to climb Big Red to take photos and marvel at the number of campsites spread out below.

Many food vendors were selling a variety of items, including wood-fired pizzas, Mexican cuisine, coffee, seafood, hamburgers, steak sandwiches, and even a Wendy's outlet.

The "drag" race is undoubtedly a spectacle to see. Besides being entertaining, it significantly raises funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
This year, hundreds of men dressed in drag ran across and down Big Red.

A representative from the Guinness World Records was also present to oversee the world record attempt for the Tina Turner song "Nut Bush City Limit" dance. The previous record was 522 people who had to dance continuously for five minutes. This attempt was broken at the "Bash" with just over 1700 participants.

The drag race and the nut bush dance combined raised just over $50,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). Ros was given an early birthday gift with a helicopter flight over Bashville and Big Red, which she thoroughly enjoyed.