Thin Green Line Festival 2009

WOW! What a great day, a fantastic festival!!

Our cheekbones hurt from smiling so much.

The crowd was amazing, the music unbelievable and the energy flowing around the beautiful surrounds just made everyone smile. Especially with the refreshing micro-brewed beers and local wines to savour in perfect weather.

Whether it was Xavier Rudd playing his tunes to 2000 great people as the sun set, with Banula Marika and Nalkuma Burrawanga adding their ancestral voices, Mia Dyson amping it up on the Kaymunnity stage with her spine tingling electric guitar, Archie and Ruby taking you on a journey or local favourites Tubovas and Cousin Leonard getting the dancers started, the inaugural Thin Green Line festival was truly amazing because of all involved.

As we packed down the festival on Sunday, the reliving of memories flooded back. Shane Howard and Neil Murray as the two song men, Josh Owen, the antics of Bedroom Philosopher, Tash Parker’s amazing voice launching the day, Auntie Caroline Briggs Bunarong elder bringing our histories together, Festival goers making and sending their postcard wristbands to rangers working around the world as part of “Project Connect”...... and the list goes on and on of things to smile about..But who will ever forget Xavier’s set followed by our funky favourites Bomba, who got the crowd to face the back, "turn on the count of four...and dance like you've never danced before..1...2...3...4 Dance!!" what a way to finish!

Also a massive thankyou to our volunteers, event committee, stall holders, our sponsors, foodies and importantly all of you who bought tickets and brought your energy to a festival where that energy will continue long after the stages have packed up, the bars closed and signs folded for next year. That energy continues in all who were there and will hear about it, and importantly in the form of support of the families of rangers killed protecting wildlife wordwide, and for this year to also support bushfire appeals....

With the disaster that has faced Victorians this week, it is right to rally behind our own....but equally and no less deserving of our support, it is important that after this subsides that we also remember the suffering and grief of those further away... and that those of us with opportunities should help those people and community and conservation causes in need.

We are part of a world community, and on the day of our festival we were also connected to overseas Thin Green Line Music Events in towns, national parks and cities of Rwanda, Russia, Kazakhstan, Costa Rica, Lithuania, Argentina, Canada, Spain totalling more than 40 locations. We'll place some photos from these amazing grass roots festivals, that show we can all join together for common causes.

Here just a tiny sample of some photos to help you remember. Later this week we will load up 100's of photos for you to check out along with a video clip of the day for you to download

Many thanks, peace to all of you and lets do as much as we can for a better planet between now and next year, where we will again come together for the 2nd Thin Green Line Festival