More than 8000 revellers braved the weekend’s awful

weather to enjoy three days of music, entertainment

and fun at the Golden Plains Music Festival.

Now in its fifth year, the festival, held on the Nolan

family farm in Meredith, has carved out a niche for

indie music lovers.

The crowd was noticeably different to that of its ‘‘big sister’’ festival, the Meredith Music Festival, with a more diverse age range and a more laid-back attitude.

As storm clouds brewed overhead, punters donned their gumboots, ponchos and rain jackets and bunkered down for the weekend.

Festival cofounder Matt High said ticket-holders were warned to be prepared.

‘‘We were unlucky with the weather in one sense but we’re very lucky we didn’t cop the brunt of it,’’ he said.

‘‘I think having had a couple of wet ones in the past five years definitely puts a lot of collective wisdom out there.

‘‘We’ve learnt a lot about what to tell people in the lead-up to the festival, essential items you have to have, and people are resilient.

‘‘The capacity they have to enjoy themselves even when it’s pouring rain is amazing.’’

This year the headline acts included cult bands Pavement and Dinosaur Jr, Monotonix, and Midnight

Juggernauts.

Mr High said managing to have Pavement and Dinosaur Jr play back-to-back was a rare treat.

‘‘It’s only every now and again you can pull off something as special as that,’’ he said.

The performance by Israeli band Monotonix was easily the standout, with lead singer Ami Shalev spending most of the set held aloft by the crowd as he sang.

Organisers were impressed with the crowd’s behaviour.

Security, patrols on quad-bikes and even a spotter plane were used to deter trespassers, but Mr High said there were still some who tried to sneak in.

‘‘We had 20 to 30 trespass interceptions . . . some ended up in the hands of Victoria Police,’’ he said.

Organisers will now start planning Meredith Music Festival’s 20th festival, which will be held in December.