Party in the Paddock: four mammoth days of dancing, inhaling dust and racking up steps

Party in the Paddock has become a fixture of Tasmania’s festival scene since it began some 15 years ago.

What started as a 21st birthday party has turned into one of the state’s biggest live music offerings, with attendee numbers rivalling that of the once lauded Falls Festival.

We were among the 14,000 punters who filled the sprawling grounds of Quercus Park last week for a mammoth few days of dancing, inhaling dust and racking up several half-marathons on the step counter.

The festival kicked off on Thursday, with Hobart outfit Glass Media cementing themselves as a crowd favourite. They were followed by heavy-hitting bands like Old Mervs, Dune Rats and Ball Park Music, playing in a more intimate setting than their usual mainstage appearances and resulting in some beautiful moments of crowd connection.

Day two saw the opening of the Paddock stage, on which Sam McMeekin, a local artist who’d won a triple j unearthed competition, got to play her first ever mainstage set.

Over at the Bigtop, local DJ Holly.etc was dishing out Ninajirachi-vibes with her blend of dark techno, while Miss Kaninna used her platform at the Vibestown stage to call out police brutality, racism in Australia, First Nations rights and the Palestinian genocide, putting on one of the most powerful performances of the day.

Among the many things that set PITP aside from its festival peers is the broad range of music programming. Day three covered genres from the indie surf-rock of local band Ekidna and the heavy metal of Launceston outfit Tranquility Unknown, to Sofi Tukker’s bossa nova-tinged dance music and the wholesome acoustics of Ben Lee.

There were even rowdy rockstar antics from Melbourne veterans The Pretty Littles, with frontman Jack Parsons closing out the set by clambering off the stage and throwing himself into the eager crowd.

Despite being a Tasmanian who should know better, I was unprepared for the deluge that arrived on the last full day of the festival. Once the sky cleared, we made our way to line dancing (which had quickly become our daily staple), before locking in for an afternoon of First Nations programming. This included explosive performances from Baker Boy, rap supergroup 3%, and Truwulway rapper Denni, who closed her set with a tribute to the late Craig Everett (a revered Tasmanian Aboriginal leader who passed away earlier this year).

That night, the mainstage was a pop paradise for fans of The Veronicas and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, while Close Counters held sway with two DJ sets in the Bigtop, including a bunch of all-original production.

It’s near-impossible to condense four days of frolicking into a short wrap-up article, and this doesn’t even scratch the surface. But in a world where festivals are dropping like flies, newsfeeds are full of hostility and the future feels uncertain, PITP is a rare opportunity to switch off, escape reality and find connection through music.

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This article was made in partnership with Party in the Paddock.