Splendour in the Grass 2022
Images by Ash Bakos, Mel Carrero & Marc Llewellyn
Well… Splendour has always been a weekend to remember, but let's just say - 2022 will well and truly go down in festival history. Mother nature took the lead (as she’s been known to do lately) and set the stage for a hell of a roller coast ride. We’re reticent to complain about the mud – our local community are still reeling from the floods earlier this year and their experiences with mud were vastly different… this was different, and in the end – as the sun shone down on Sunday, it turned out to be just another reason to come together and celebrate our resilience!
We’ve been yearning for the return of Splendour since the moment we stepped out of the North Byron Parklands in 2019. It’s always been our fave Australian festival, right here on our doorstep and always flirts between super fun and just a little bit out of control.
In the lead up everyone in town could feel the buzz as those familiar pre-festival vibes began to reverberate, and we started working on our Spell Saloon activation. When we mood boarded the stall we knew we wanted happy vibes with lots of colour but we had no idea our stall would end up being a Rainbow Oasis of optimism and shelter amid a sea of mud.
Day 1 and Day 2 were difficult when it came to festival style. Those days were about survival; everyone was in great spirits – running on adrenaline and disbelief and thriving off the wildness of it all – but the aim was staying dry and warm, or making the most of a difficult situation if you were camping. But the energy built as the forecast for Sunday looked perfect and by Day 3 everyone was beyond pumped. We’re talking 2 years and 2 days of pent up energy and determination – and it set the scene for an epic day of style and great vibes!
Look, we never called for rain like this – but a BIT of rain makes the perfect excuse for the perfect festival accessory: the knee high gumboot. I mean, so Kate Moss. So mid 2000s. So 60s, so Woodstock. It was just rad seeing how everyone styled this same accessory; jeans tucked in, with a short skirt, with shorts, with dresses, any which way.
We transformed our stall into the Spell Saloon, and the Spell beauties boot-scooted their way through the weekend on our deck beneath the illuminated SPELL sign. Thank you to everybody who came by for a cuddle, or chill, a download and a pick-me-up. As always, we loved and soaked up every minute of time we got to spend with friends, old and new. We hope you all got a little bit of that pre-launch excitement after the sneak peeks of our upcoming collection, Madame Peacock.
The Spell Saloon had a few fun extras, as we embraced the Western vibe – Cute-as-hell-merch in the form of limited edition Spell bandanas and tees, Ring Toss, our Seriously Red head in a hole. And how could we not mention our breathtaking ombre flower installation in the back of a truck from Nikau Flora! Our Meadowland faves were sittin’ pretty in their natural festival habitat ~ and it was such a treat to also be stocking some of our go-to festival accessories to complete the look, from our friends at Lack of Color, ROC Boots & Carrie Case.
And then we introduced many of you to Splendour’s infamous ‘Tackleshack’ a hidden bush-shack that most people have only ever heard about in Splendour folklore – well, now we know it really exists. What a wild ride! We hosted a few hundred of our closest friends {plus some lucky competition winners} to dance beneath the hills of the festival grounds as the sun set. Drinks were flowing while we immersed ourselves in live music by our friends In the Flowers, Holly Tapp and Caitlin Harnett and the Ponyboys.
Thank you to all of ya'll who partied with us, IRL and via our socials. We love sharing it all with you!
Time to hang up our disco cowgirl hats for now, but the countdown is already on until next year {360 days to go}!
A huge thank you to Splendour in the Grass for yet another amazing weekend. Yeehaw!