For many outdoor party-goers, the annual Rainbow Serpent Festival in regional Victoria is the highlight on their yearly calendar. It’s an annual trek to the Victorian bush for some well earned dancing under the stars, a musical line up to die for, a little relaxation and of course, some shenanigans. It’s the kind of festival that should set the stage for some magical moments. As only my second ever Rainbow Serpent Festival, but one of many outdoor events attended between the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and Melbourne over the last 10 years, this edition certainly rates up there as one of the best – but it’d be hard pressed to ever pinnacle my virginal first.

While the weather wasn’t quite as extreme as last year, harsh northerly winds for the first couple of days proved to keep temperatures high, the medics busy with dehydration and tents and camping straining, sometimes flattened under the conditions. Sunday was the mildest, but certainly the best weather day proved to be Monday, after a foggy start. The clouds threatened to rain and gave up a few drops throughout the weekend, but there was not enough of a down pour to keep the dust down, and unfortunately the water trucks had to be brought in on a couple of occasions.

It’s fair to say most people go to Rainbow for the overall experience rather than any particular music act, however you can’t deny the diverse array of talent from across the globe this festival attracts and manages to bring together. While the Israeli acts and party-going contingent seemed down this year, the new wave of German electro acts like Ripperton and Monolake held strong. UK’s legendary Eat Static, downbeat wizard Ott, and progressive Swedes Son Kite, who have all played Earthcore in recent years, added a familiar element.

The reworked festival layout with extended camping available under trees were value-added facets. The Market Stage was reversed from last year’s event and also made larger to accommodate its ever-growing popularity and perhaps new direction of the festival. Similarly the chill space was relocated and reworked to become more of a fixture. In contrast the main floor appeared to be slightly smaller, to perhaps accommodate the new Green Energy Red Bus stage. The market area was also more spread out and less congested. The main stage laser show on Saturday night and the market stage shade design made welcome returns, and while the number of toilet facilities appeared to be down on last year, what they did provide was better maintained and cleaned more regularly. Campers still had to go off site for showers (not that most seemed to mind).

There were some excellent visual art installations, including a metal work sculpture including tribal symbols, feathers and coloured glass bead work. Art made from recycled materials like plastic bottles and packing materials made a big return. The ‘Psyflective’ gateway with flouro, fairies and mushrooms was perhaps a caricature of itself. A shamanic hut made from tree branches was a wonderful creation, and a welcome escape from the searing heat, although the sulfur-crested cockatoo wings hanging precariously among the structure gave a macabre feel. Syncromesh went for a smaller fire installation either side of the main stage, but were dwarfed by last year’s impressive fire dragon. A few installations from previous years made a return to fill the gaps, including the giant plastic preying-mantis and flouro mushrooms decorating and marking the children’s area, as well as some of the recycled tribal tree-hanging artworks.

What happened to the roving performers this year who were such a massive part of last year’s event? Most I managed to catch were a couple of old roving nudes on bikes yelling “it’s time to get naked” – but there was some speculation as to whether they were they actually paid entries or was it a spontaneous act of nudity (err… stupidity?). They certainly were dedicated though – not once, not twice, but at least thrice occasions did they get their butts out in public. The bike seats didn’t look too comfortable though! The chill space made way for the workshops on Saturday, including Brazilian capoeira and Underbelly’s belly dancing. Both were brilliant warm ups, despite the scorching sun, and the shade cloth suspended and carpet underfoot made the conditions more comfortable. Despite running behind schedule and having a few generator issues, the workshops provided a healthy distraction.

Once again it was mainly a mix of young people, and a few elder statesmen and families. Dishonourable mentions go to those who flouted the rules: shitting on the toilet seat and not cleaning it off, those driving their ute onto the dance floor of the market stage centimetres away from babies and people’s legs on Sunday, the parents who didn’t put headphones on their babies, and generally those who got so fucked up on drugs and alcohol they couldn’t respect their fellow party-goers (and there were a lot of them).

Props to the sound system set ups, which were heavenly; especially on the chill stage and main floor, the vibrating and pulsating bass and beats managing to work their way right through the campsite. What happened to the sound when Monolake was playing on the Market Stage though? The sound guy was no where to be seen and everything got very quiet for a bit? The sound system in the chill space was conveniently and thoughtfully pointed towards the camping area so no matter if you were catching a few z’s or hanging at the chill area, you would get to hear the music where-ever you were. This year, the chill really came into its own as a major focal point. All of the music was impressive and uplifting, mostly dub, with cinematic elements adding an interesting edge. The chill space’s multi-dimensional organic electronic expression jam made for some interesting listening with live sitar, didge and other instruments jammed over electronic beats. Other highlights in the chill space included Steve Law AKA Zen Paradox in downbeat mode, whose placement of samples from Hunter S Thompson’s Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas movie made for a humourous edge, as well as Bent Intent, Numatic, Ones & Zeros, Eat Static’s chill set and Ooze.

Some of the highlights on the Red Bus Green Energy Stage, a new installment for Rainbow, but a fixture which is finding itself at most of the Victorian outdoor festivals (such as Earthcore and Akasha) of late, were Mischief, Menno and Cacophony. The space saw DJs mixing progressive, trance, breaks, drum n bass, techno, electro and all flavours of the musical rainbow. Main stage highlights were the opening ceremony with sand mandala creation, Aboriginal dancing, didge playing, and blessing and fire ceremony with audience participation. Musically it was NZ’s psy dub duo Pitch Black, Sensient, returning kings of the prog scene Son Kite, and Beauty and the Beat that provided some of the musical highlights. Simon Slieker who was noticeably absent from the Sunday Market Stage Lu-au instead pumped up the energy on the Main Stage Saturday night with hard driving techno and was hard to beat, while Zen Mechanics and Eat Static ensured the psytrance heads were pushed to maximum capacity in the early hours of Sunday morning – the throbbing bass almost overwhelming.

Market Stage highlights included Jonny Mac and Marcotix on Saturday afternoon with pumping electro flavoured party tunes. Saturday night, Monolake was disappointing on the Market Stage, getting too minimal for most people’s party vibes. Saw a similar thing with Michael Mayer at Earthcore a couple of years back too. Gavin Keitel, Moichi, Miyagi and Heath Myers served the annual Market Stage Lu-au on Sunday with champers for best dancing going to a boy in a dress. Simon Slieker turned up in a life-savers uniform while Heath Myers looked like the captain in his trademark hat. Other honourable mentions go to Paul Abad Saturday afternoon, as well as UK’s magical dub downbeat master Ott, Kundalini in full trance mode on Sunday night and Haltya on Monday afternoon.

With a few highlight acts such as Minilogue and Dousk closing the festival on Monday, many who had to get back to Melbourne for their day jobs missed out, however fortunately Dousk, as well as Eat Static, Edoardo, Beauty & the Beat and Ripperton will be doing sideshows this week, so look out for more info on the Rainbow website about where and when.

These are just some of the highlights of RSF 2008, so please feel free to share yours below!