Big Red Bash 2019

We headed into town on Saturday morning, July 13th, after spending the past nine days camping on the town common, just south of the town. Here, we joined the large queue of people all patiently waiting to collect their wristbands and early entry car stickers. Without these, access to the Bash site is impossible.

The 'Bash' merchandise was on sale in Birdsville last year while we were collecting our wristbands and car stickers. However, this year, that has all changed, with the merchandise now only available at Big Red.
Last year, our morning temperatures made hooking up our van nearly impossible due to the cold. So, this year, I hooked up before going to bed.
The night before heading out to Big Red, three thoughtless bogans arrived and blocked off our access to the road, forcing us to go cross-country to reach the main road into Birdsville.
This year, we joined Glenda and Steve, who also own a Bushtracker. We met them last year at the 'Bash' and decided to park together at the event. We left the town at 7 am and enjoyed a clear run for the majority of the trip to Big Red.
Here, we joined the queue waiting for access to start at 8 am.

Last year, we left around the same time, but this year our site was at the front. We also parked the van in the same spot as last year, with our awning facing away from the prevailing winds.

Once we'd set up, we headed to the merchandise tent to buy T-shirts, caps, and a Big Red Bash hoodie for Ros.
 
This year's headline act was Midnight Oil, who performed on the final evening. In the past, we have never been fans, but after booking our tickets months ago, we started printing off the lyrics to their songs and downloaded some of their albums. They are just so professional, with Peter Garrett at the forefront. His onstage antics have certainly mellowed over the years. Perhaps that's due to age.
Their 2019 tour concluded at the 'Bash' after playing at nineteen other venues across Europe, Ireland, and the UK.
 
The other bands at this year's event included:

I'm sure the organisers are gradually running out of Australian acts unless they bring back some who have already performed in previous years.

 

These series of photos were taken during our stay...