Rocking The Daisies 2017

After skipping Rocking the Daisies last year, I returned for the 2017 edition to see how the event has morphed over the last 2 years. Every year the organisers promise a Bigger party and a better experience of hopping between the festival’s multiple stages in between yoga, hula hoop workshops and TED Talks, among other fun activities.

With the sun barely up, we pack the car to leave for the promised wonderland. Arriving at the entrance of the festival, you immediately realise that Daisies has transformed into an event that can now easily compete against some of its biggest international equivalents. The organisers has basically supersized everything. The layout too; it’s now like a little town that you can visit over a long weekend. Like: “Bye mom, I’m going to Rocking the Daisies, Darling’s neighbouring town, this weekend!”

One of the best things about Daisies is the moment after you’ve set up camp; that feeling of sipping on your first drink (perhaps poured with a too eager hand), and realising that you can relax in the belly of a 4-day-long festival. And that’s exactly what I do.

The large campsite, organised into smaller sections, creates a sort of intimacy; a safe haven to refuel on energy, restock on booze and snacks, reconnect with old friends and new, and one that even serves as a home base for some who barely leave for the entire 4 days (cue the “Daisies was in tents” posts).

A few hours spent in the festival’s main area, and I realise: There is no doubt that the festival is evolving with the times; just one look at their Instagram page, and you’ll get the idea. From large, colourful art structures and stages, to bars and food courts that look like permanent venues, the event is a beast few others can keep up with.

An early visit to the Trap House (literally a house), and I know that this is one of the best new additions to the event. It’s a relaxed area, presented by VUZU Amp, filled with moving bodies in sneakers and snapbacks. The tide has surely turned in favour of electronic artists these days. This is probably most evident when I walk past the Beach Bar a couple of times, and not once do I not find it packed.

It’s no secret that, at Daisies, everyone documents everything. It’s no longer only the place to hear, but now also to be seen. Luckily, I spot fewer flower crowns this year, although I, myself, gets crowned by a friendly guy at the main stage with one of his 10 flower headbands on Saturday evening, during the Heuwels Fantasties’ set. In a time where ‘cultural appropriation’ is often mentioned at these events, as people proudly sport Asian bindis and Native American headdresses, I guess it’s always a fun alternative.

There are more than plenty of stand-out performances from this year’s festival, including the soulful Alice Phoebe Lou, newcomers to Daisies, Southern Wild, veterans Fokofpolisiekar and the mind-blowing PHFAT. It’s a big line up; big in the amount of artists, local and international, old and upcoming.

The colder weather over the weekend results in a few people exchanging the music for the comfort and warmth of their tents, while others brave the cold in vintage windbreakers, faux fur coats and fancy stockings to fill the front of the stages for acts such as New Zealand’s The Naked and Famous and American hip-hop artist Joey Bada$$.

Through the years the crowds at RTD has also changed. And, although you’ll still find pockets of different people, electronic music lovers dominate the event. This year, the organisers, Steyn Entertainment, answered the fans’ thousands of Facebook posts by adding Flume, a famous, young Australian beatmaker, to the bill. However, the organisers are still making a major effort to include everyone with a line up as diverse as the country we live in: from hip hop and trance to rock and folk. These genres take the backseat, yes, but you can’t force the masses, the younger demographic, to listen if they don’t want to, now can you?

With the motto of RTD being “Play hard, tread lightly”, the festival puts in major effort to create a “leave no trace” and “safe partying” environment. These efforts include the Green Village, the inclusion of the Red Frogs and the collection of old clothes for disadvantaged communities – a fantastic initiative!

The general infrastructure of the festival is also top-class. From the two food courts, to the bars and stalls, everything carefully set out to ensure festival-goers can party in pure comfort.

Ultimately, I believe RTD will continue to push the boundaries of what a music festival can be, and this year proved it! The bigger it gets, the more it will change, but it’s still one of the best platforms for our local artists to perform at.

A fan of Rocking the Daisies or not, you cannot deny that it is a world-class event; the production is just on a whole different level. Therefore: the bigger the festival, the bigger the experience – Let’s see what 2018 holds!

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