There comes time in the life of every successful venture where it adapts and survives to be something bigger and possibly better or slowly implodes upon its own success and unwillingness to change. In its twentieth year the Rainbow Serpent Festival has reached that crossroad.
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It grows bigger every year with thousands who come away inspired and satiated but it also grows increasingly troubled by incidents which shed a less salubrious light on it as a mystical fun trip. Arrest, rape and death are not pretty words you will see in the promotions.
The conflict between these impressions, between those within the magic bubble and those outside who see a snake pit is growing wider. The contrasts of today's front page story indicate organisers must sit down with all the authorities involved and make that hard choice about what they want the festival to be known for .
Death by misadventure may have hit the headlines loudest but how avoidable is it? Given the climate and atmosphere of the crowded-hour bacchanale which grows progressively at the festival it seems almost inevitable something will go wrong.. But the conditions that make this kind of incontinent frenzy are governable and can be potentially controlled so the worst excesses could be guarded against. One of the key issues is duration.
In an atmosphere of experimentation which leaps from one cliff to the next it is only a matter of time before someone leaps too far. The time that Rainbow extends for is one of the key areas of dispute.and it would seem its prolonged duration as one of the longest festivals in the state tempts some into the next dangerous place.
Everyone loves a party but the best know when to quit “When everything you do, you do too long you cant expect to find the people still are there; the people all are gone; the party’s over.” This is not to act as a kill joy or curmudgeonly deny Beaufort its biggest week of the year, but when excess tips into the nasty worlds of rape and dangerous drug driving; then it is no longer fun. Police are convinced the excess behavior grows worse in the tail end days. Drug driving certainly endangers the wider community and as numerous festival related car accidents indicate, it is a serious issue.
It is high time for all the parties to sit down and seriously consider what will ensure the festival continues but moreover that it continues with the right reputation
