Rainbow Serpent Festival Review + Guide: Australia’s Premier Bush Doof

Rainbow Serpent Festival has been on my list since the first time I learned what the term ‘bush doof’ meant. It’s one of Australia’s premier and oldest running bush doofs  – which are incredible, vibrant transformational music festivals out in the bush of Australia. It’s known for having music, art, workshops, speakers, and tons of different activities and culturally immersive opportunities alongside massive musical lineups.

I must say I had quite a lot of expectations for Rainbow Serpent after hearing so much about it, and it definitely delivered on every single one of them. Having 20+ years under its belt, it has truly perfected its craft and it’s no surprise at all that it constitutes many people’s annual pilgrimage out into the bush for a weekend full of magic.

Rainbow was my third and favorite of what they call a ‘bush doof’ out here in Australia. It’s so apparent that so much meticulous planning and effort goes into its execution, and it is truly impressive. I was lucky enough to be a part of the ‘dooferazzi’ photography team in 2019 – view my photo album here! 

This Rainbow Serpent Festival Review-Guide will go into 18+ different aspects of the festival, reviewing my experience with them and serving as a guide to tell you things about it I wish I had known before coming. These categories include the venue, crowd/vibe, camping situation, festival amenities, security, weather, bathroom/shower situation, price, timings, and more!

This is a LONG Rainbow Serpent Guide… Pin it to save it! 

Check out More of my Review-Guides for Doofs in Victoria!

• Strawberry Fields Festival
• Beyond the Valley Festival
• Babylon Festival
• Pitch Festival
• 20 Bush Doofs in Australia to Add to Your Bucket List
• Or Boom Festival in Portugal hopping across the pond 😉

Rainbow Serpent Location/Venue

Rainbow Serpent Festival is held in a scenic and hilly part of the bushland outside of Lexton, Victoria – about 2.5 hours from Melbourne. Lexton is just northwest of the bigger city of Ballarat, which is a convenient place to make some last stops for supplies and food.

The venue is divided into camping areas that encapsulate the festival venue on 3 sides (see below for more camping info).

There are 5 stages each with a different vibe (see music section below), an art gallery with many pieces on display and being done live, and “The Village” which encompasses the yoga space, the speaking/panel/discussion area, a permaculture garden, meditation spaces, chill spaces, an indigenous culture area, and a kids area. There’s tons to do!

What’s the Crowd Like?

The crowd at Rainbow is both international and domestic. As I mentioned, Rainbow Serpent truly is a festival that people travel for, whether overseas or simply interstate. Because of its long existence, many of Rainbow’s attendees have been attending for 5-10-15 or even 20 years. This festival has a very devoted base of participants who attend year in and year out and truly support and care for the event.

There are people of ALL ages at Rainbow – that old man who has been going since year one, the two-year-old at their first festival, the middle-aged doof couple, the spiritual ones who come for the talks and meditations, and many groups of young people here for the music and party as well.

The crowd at Rainbow are very checked in and conscious for the most part. With the growth of any big festival comes the attendance of punters who may not fully understand the core ethos of the event or the meaning of leaving no trace, which is an unfortunate yet widespread reality. No matter what, people here are very committed to educating younger doofers about proper etiquette.

Vibe

The vibe at Rainbow is generally amazing no matter where you are. Different stages may have a different vibe depending on the type of music, but the whole thing is inclusive and community-based.

 

Rainbow Serpent Atmosphere/Decorations

Rainbow is very well-known for its art; it’s an art festival as well as music, culture, and more. Rainbow commissions artists to create installations throughout the grounds each year, many of which are interactive or fantastic chill-spaces as well.

Rainbow has actually seen quite a few pieces that made their debut at Burning Man. There are a few permanent installations that live at the site, and many that come in and change each year.

The whole venue is very vibrant, colorful, and psychedelic. Colorful tarps provide shades for each stage, many of which are creatively designed and adorned with different things. You never know what you will get each year at Rainbow, which makes it really special.

Two of the best Market Stage sets of the festival – Patrice Baumel and Patrick Topping

Rainbow Serpent Lineup/Music/Artists

Rainbow has a great mix of psytrance, house/techno, and different kinds of live acts across 5 main stages.

Main Stage

The main stage only comes alive for 20 incredible hours after the opening ceremony (Saturday midday to Sunday midday), during which it plays psytrance the entire time. The Main Stage is set in a bit of a pit with an incline on 3 sides, making for a fantastic amphitheater vibe and a great place to gather thousands of people (especially for the opening ceremony).

Sunset Stage

The Sunset Stage has a different lineup each day – sometimes more focused on techno, sometimes psy, and oftentimes bass/glitch as well. The sunset stage runs all weekend apart from when the main stage is on. Many specialty artists play on this stage, so may attention to the lineup.

Market Stage

The Market Stage is the techno haven of Rainbow, and has developed a reputation for being one of the best dancefloors in the world!

This stage will have a continuous and high-quality stream of house and techno music for basically the entire weekend. Many partying punters spend most of their weekend here – and sometimes there are fun dress-ups or events held here. Any techno lover would have a hard time leaving.

CloZee at the Sunset Stage 

 

The Main Stage

Playground Stage

This stage is home to a lot of the live performances and funky vibes. It’s inside a big circus-style tent and has different themes each day. You can find lots of funky jazz bands, burlesque shows, jam bands, and even a reggaeton/ska themed day.

Temple (Chill) Stage

The temple stage is a wonderful place to sit down and take a break for a while. They always have really vibey and relaxed music playing and plenty of shade next to the art gallery.

 

Rainbow Serpent Festival Camping

The camping areas are named according to where they are in relation to the venue – North, East, and South.

The North side is known for being a bit more quiet. The family and staff camping areas are on this side of the venue (between North and East).

The East side is a bit more sparse camping-wise. This area is more hilly and therefore more difficult to camp on, but if you can find a spot it’s well-connected both to the north and south, and will also be quiet and more secluded. Camping on the far east will generally be a bit farther away from the venue because there’s a parking lot and staff camping directly to the east of the venue.

The South Side is known for being where the party camps are. The Rainbow Serpent Theme camps (there are about 5-6 theme camps at Rainbow) have reserved areas just outside the south end of the venue. They throw parties often, as do the other campers in the area.

Rainbow Serpent Pink Party

Before the festival begins on Friday morning, the theme camps all throw a big collective pink-themed party on the Thursday night. It is attended by most punters who are able to arrive in time.

RSF Camping Amenities

The only Glamping tents at Rainbow are reserved for the artists camp. You must bring your own setups if you want to camp in style!

Bathrooms are available in the form of porta-potty and compost toilet blocks all around the venue.

Showers are available in a few locations throughout the campground as well. These showers will run for approximately 3-5 minutes in exchange for a specific shower token you must purchase inside the venue. The water actually turns off after the time is up, so plan accordingly!

RSF Festival Amenities – Other Stuff to Do

There is SO much to do at Rainbow Serpent. You could spend the entire time going between cermonies, workshops, and panel discussions and not even see the music!

The Village

The Village is home to most of the extra activities at Rainbow Serpent Festival. It has 7 or 8 different spaces, each with a lineup as diverse as the music stages.

The Lotus Temple houses yoga, flow, and other kinds of acrobatic arts and movement all day.

The Permaculture Garden has workshops on gardening, permaculture, and sustainability.

There are Speakers and Panel Discussions with a lineup all day every day, touching upon subjects from Females in the Festival Industry to Sustainability to Botany to Psychedelics.

The Elemental Temple is a beautiful meditation space that holds different kinds of ceremonies and meditations.

The hammock temple is a fantastic chill space that also sometimes holds meditations and ceremonies.

The Art Gardens space has different arts and crafts and ways for people to get creative all day long.

The Kids Space is a little haven for the little ones, with different kids activities always going on and a fabulous playground to have fun in.

The Karrung Larr Aboriginal Camp houses indigenous smoking ceremonies and workshops and is a place for people to learn more about the local tribes (and the origin of the name of the festival!).

The Cinema has late-night film screenings, and there’s also a Massage and Healing space too.

Markets

The markets and artisan vendors are actually located in a massive circle near the market stage. There are DOZENS of stalls to peruse through, from clothing and jewelry to tarot readings and psychics.

Opening Ceremony

On Saturday afternoon, they hold an incredible indigenous smoking ceremony to represent the opening of the main stage. Nearly all of the festival attends this, and its truly a spectacle to witness with indigenous dancing, chants, and ceremonies occurring with thousands of people dotting the surrounding hills to watch.

 

 

Rainbow Serpent Transportation/Hotels/Parking

How to get to Rainbow Serpent Festival? Most people either drive or take a few different forms of busses.

To drive to Rainbow, it will take about 2.5 hours from Melbourne past the small town of Lexton.

To take the bus to Rainbow, you can sign up for the Banana Bus or the official Charter bus. The Charter Busses leave from Federation Square, and Banana Busses pick up in over a dozen suburbs on the way for maximum convenience,

Many groups also decide to organize themselves a bus for their group.

You can also take public transport to Rainbow Serpent Festival if you wish – you can take the V Line trains to either Beaufort or Ballarat stations and take a free shuttle bus from there.

Rainbow Serpent Accommodation

As far as accommodation goes, nearly everyone camps at rainbow. This is the type of festival where people bring out their most amazing camping setups, with tents, marquees, tables, sarongs, chill-spaces – you name it. It’s a great place to go all out and create a festival camping haven.

If you really couldn’t handle it, you could book a hotel in areas around the festival and drive into the venue each day. There’s nothing too close, but you can sort yourself out a 20 minute drive if need be. But as this is truly a camping festival and a great camping experience, I don’t recommend the extra hassle.

 

Food/Drink at Rainbow Serpent Festival

The food/drink options at RSF are ENDLESS! Lining the better part of the entire east side of the festival are food, drink, and juice stalls of any kind you can imagine. From wraps, pies, sandwiches, and burgers to bowls, smoothies, and juice to mexican food, pizza, and dumplings…. I can guarantee that any food need you have will be satiated.

You can expect to sound from about $12-$18 on a meal, and more if you want sides and trimmings. Most places will take card as well as cash.

Rainbow Serpent Tickets/Price

First release Rainbow Serpent Festival tickets go for about $380. One year they had a Black Friday sale to get tickets down to about $370. Other tiers will go up to about $400 and $420. Keep in mind that the festival does run Thursday-Monday night (LONG!) when considering the price.

Rainbow Serpent Festival Security

The Rainbow Serpent security was tight on looking for glass – you are not allowed any glass containers into the venue and they will search your cars for glass bottles upon entry for safety reasons. Other than that, searches were minimal and I heard no rumors of any dogs. It’s also often too hot for them.

Throughout the festival grounds, you may see cops walking around here and there checking for safety, but it’s not an overwhelming presence at all especially within the stages.

Bathrooms

There are blocks of porta potties and compost toilets within the venue and near all the main stages. These blocks of maybe 3 dozen will have long-ish lines at certain points, but will generally be pretty accessible and fast-moving.

In the camping area you’ll find compost toilets in some areas and ports potties in others, in smaller blocks than inside the festival, but more frequent. The toilets were generally pretty clean and well-maintained.

Weather

The Rainbow Serpent weather is nearly always HOT, HOT, HOT – with colder nights. Up in the bush in the height of summer can lead to scorching temperatures – occasionally to the point of it being unsafe.

One year had consistent 40+ degree days, and most years have at least one day upwards of 40. To combat this, bring a scarf or hat and regularly dunk it into a cooler/esky full of ice to keep you cool and make SURE to stay hydrated!

The being said, it can dip pretty low in the night, so many sure to be prepared for chilly nights too. You’ll most definitely need a warm coat during the nights and will have to return to the campsite after sunset for this to avoid being uncomfortable.

Rainbow Serpent Outfits + Fashion

The Rainbow Serpent fashion is as crazy as it gets. This really is a festival that people go ALL OUT for clothing-wise, and it would be more normal to go out wearing a crazy wig and sequined outfit than in normal clothes.

The general fashion could be interpreted as ‘doofy’ if you will – girls in bodysuits, wigs, fishnets, fun jewelry, crazy colors, and more – and guys in crazy shirt and fun hats. This is truly a festival not to hold back fashion-wise. Read more in my article about the best festival fashion brands for women.

 

Rainbow Serpent Timings

Rainbow Serpent Festival really has no starting and ending point; the music goes all night. As I mentioned, the main stage only runs for 20 hours (from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon) and then will shut down. The Market stage does not stop all weekend – but do NOT miss it on Monday (mad Monday). The Sunset Stage only stops when the main stage is active. The Playground stage has most performances during the day and early evening, as does the chill stage.

The Village will have workshops and classes during the daylight hours only – beginning with yoga classes and meditations as early as 8am and usually ending by 7pm.

 

Money at Rainbow

At Rainbow Serpent Festival you can pay with cash or card at most vendors.

Rainbow Serpent Volunteer and Vendor Opportunities

Rainbow has a really successful and popular volunteering program. You can apply for 10+ different positions online, from volunteering to different positions in The Village to holding a market or food stall. the ‘Rainbow Rangers’ (pictured above) help out around the event.

Final Rainbow Serpent Tips

• Attend the Opening Ceremony
• Experience the Main Stage while it’s open
• Immerse yourself into the Village – try to check out a talk, a workshop, and a class/yoga of some kind to make the most of what is offered.
• Spend some time looking at art and watching live painting
• Stay until Monday – it’s the best and craziest day at the Market Stage
• Check out the theme camps – try to check out the Pink Party at the theme camps on Thursday night
• STAY COOL! Dip a scarf in ice water and stay hydrated, care for your friends, and be smart
• Spend some time appreciating the art installations and live painting
• Watch a sunrise or a sunset from a hilltop

Remember to check out my RSF2019 photo album here for TONS more photos. I was so honored to have been a part of it. Let me know in the comments if I should add anything else to my Rainbow Serpent Festival review-guide!