MEREDITH SUPERNATURAL AMPHITHEATRE

Here is a map of the Amphitheatre and campgrounds. Click here to download it as a PDF.

The Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre is a spectacularly beautiful piece of land on the edge of a farm near the small township of Meredith (Population 400). Meredith is 90 kilometres due West of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and sits on the golden plains below the foothills of the Brisbane Ranges.

The Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre is renowned for being home to the annual Meredith Music Festival, a much-loved, willful, three-day, outdoor, camping, cutting-edge music festival that has been running since 1991.

It is now also home to Golden Plains.

The Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre is about ten miles from the township of Meredith, so the feeling is of spaciousness and glorious isolation from the Rest of The World. It’s beautiful, it’s peaceful (if you want it to be), one is fully immersed in the natural setting. About a third of site is designated Land For Wildlife. This is called Bush Camp and it is made available to campers courtesy of the world-renowned Meredith Dairy.

There’s grassy campgrounds sprawling around the amphitheatre, all within a short walk of the stage. The stage itself is a permanent structure made from timber, steel, and fibreglass, and was purpose-built for music performance. It was designed specifically for the amphitheatre, which bowls around it, and is crowned by an arc of gigantic Cypress Pines. The pines were planted by Meredith founder Chris Nolan’s Great Grandfather a century ago, as “a place for the birds to live” after he passed on, long before these festivals were even conceived. Imagine what he’d think if he could see what was going on there now. We think he’d approve.

The Amphitheatre has a reputation for being one of the best venues in the world, for both audience member and artist. Artists have often remarked that they have had their best shows there, a premium is put on top quality sound and lighting production, both on stage and offstage, and every member of the audience has a great viewing spot. The sight-lines are good from anywhere. It’s a magic set-up. Ask someone who’s been, or played.

As well as the existing mature bushland on the site, there have also been hundreds of native trees planted, to form sheltered areas, to provide windbreaks, and to look pretty. Also a number of indigenous grasses are thriving as exotics and weeds have been removed. In the Amphitheatre itself, eight transplanted four metre high eucalypts that are indigenous to the district now live, expertly selected by the Meredith Nursery. Over time they will grow to provide shelter and shade for Meredith-goers as well as to the land itself and its usual inhabitants.

The site has panoramic sunset vistas to the West. There’s a large rolling embankment on the edge of the site that allows stunning views of sunset and sunrise in the vast sky. The sky in all its massive glory is just so big when there are no buildings in the way. This area is called Sunset Strip. It’s very popular in the late evenings, and it’s where we took the inspiration for the Golden Plains artwork from.

We have built a bank of composting toilets at the site; they have been very well…received. They were built by Uncle Doug in accordance with Australian Standards, and in consultation with our friends at Natural Event, www.naturalevent.com.au “Changing the world from the bottom up”.

The roads and paths around the site have all been named; there’s the Long And Winding Road, A Shady Lane, Freeway of Love and The Esplanade to name a few. The campgrounds are broken up into suburbs; there’s Sanctuary Lakes, Africa, Premier, Kingswood and Belmont, and there’s West Kevin, amongst others.

CAMPING GROUNDS

There are three main camping grounds.

Bush Camping
Bush Camping is located North of the stage area, and is a secluded and unbelievably pretty camping ground. Gum trees, she-oaks, ferns and other indigenous flora have existed untouched for as long as anyone can remember, and we have carefully laid down a track through this land, with minimum disruption to the eco-structure. This will be quiet, sheltered camping. You are basically in the bush. It will be hard for large groups to stake out large sites in this area due to the vegetation and the single ring-road. This area is fairly close to the Amphitheatre, and to both the Food area, Pink Flamingo Bar and of course toilets, showers, First Aid and other services. Around 30% of campers will be able to camp in The Bush before it is full, so it is likely to be popular with the early arrivals.

The Top Paddock.
The Top Paddock is the camping ground closest to the action; closest to the amphitheatre and stage, closest to the food area, toilets, Pink Flamingo and The Meredith Eye. The Top Paddock is also the largest camping ground on the site; it is a massive green field with gentle dips and hills; a few rock piles, trees, ring roads, native planting areas, and is governed by a Blue Gum crop to the East and Cypress rows to the South. The Top Paddock is so big you should be able to camp well away from your neighbours (if you choose to). It is divided into suburbs – Hong Kong being the busiest - so you can find your tent easily enough. The native plantings - gums, acacias, she-oaks - have thrived since they were put in a year ago and as such there’s more greenery and windbreaks up there.

The Pines (North Pines, South Pines)
The Pines are on the South boundary of the Top Paddock. They are two perpendicular rows of Pine Trees which intersect to form a giant "T", thus creating two pockets of sheltered camping. The North pocket (North Pines) has been open for years, whereas the South pocket (South Pines) is new. These campsites are the furthest away from the action and will be pretty quiet and peaceful. Both are protected on two sides by thick rows of Cypress Pines, so they provide excellent shelter, depending on the direction of the wind. The coldest wind is the southwester, North Pines and South Pines provide good shelter from it.

The other aspect of Pine Tree Corner that many will find appealing is the panoramic vista. Man! From the other side of the trees, you sit high on a ridge, looking West to wide open plains that extend for miles and miles, a huge pine plantation, a disused gold mine, and stunning sunsets. It's a great spot, and those Meredith-goers who liked sitting in a quiet field watching the sunset are in for a total treat.

The campgrounds are populated in a similar fashion to any city – the inner city is the most densely populated, with most campsites being smaller. The further away you go, the more land you have, and the closer to the wide open spaces of the countryside you get. South Pines, for instance, seems like its furthest from the action, but like so many outer suburbs, its got a direct arterial road and footpath to the inner city and amphitheatre, and as such its easy to get to. And the blocks are bigger. And the views are amazing. But there’s no fake lakes.

Over the years the organisers have been working on the site, adding trees, re-greening areas, putting down paths, coming up with stupid names for things, keeping everything nice. It’s a special place and we hope you enjoy your time there, should you choose to go to the festival. If you do, please bear in mind it’s your home for one weekend, but its also home to the farming family and of course the native flora and fauna all of the year round. So please treat the land with the respect it deserves – no fires, no glass, and please clean up after yourself.

Many thanks.