2023 Wanderer's success attributed to local community and festival patrons

Festival founder Simon Daly and artistic director Ian Pidd said they couldn't be more thrilled with how the three-day event had come together.

One of the highlights festival organisers said stood out the most to them was the community spirit on the festival grounds, which they said really "shone through".

"One of the biggest highlights from this year was the crowd," Mr Pidd said.

"We made the space but it was the crowd that made Wanderer magnificent."

Mr Pidd said a great example of how well crowds worked together at the festival, was the space in front of the main stage, a zone that sometimes gets called the 'mosh pit' at other festivals.

"The front of our stage was a very safe space, we had teenage boys and girls dancing, kids on their mum and dad's shoulders and folks who had just come from ballroom dancing who were in their 80s," he said.

"Seeing that beautiful cross section of humanity in a space that is often considered an unsafe space at festivals was so great to see."

Mr Daly said a prime example of the community spirit at Wanderer was the ways in which the crew, performing artists and patrons of the festival all came together on the Sunday.

Mr Daly said when the strong winds came through and extreme weather warning was issued, the festival program had been temporarily put on hold while measures were put in place to secure the area.

"We had the whole site secured and our wind plan enacted in just under an hour and 40 minutes, which meant only a couple of the earlier acts were affected but on the whole the program was able to keep running," he said.

Mr Daly said it was during that time that he saw people from all sides of the festival work together.

"There was just this incredible teamwork on site and everybody was just pitching in to make things happen quickly on the ground," he said.

Mr Daly said the ways people worked together at that moment "embodied what this area is all about, a community where people come together to get things done".

"We saw this not just in our volunteers but from people outside the crew, the artists and patrons all pitching into that community spirit," he said.

Mr Daly said another of their successes had been their zero waste efforts, wherein they partnered with environmental solutions group B-Alternative, to introduce reusable cutlery, crockery and drinking cups at the festival.

With wash up stations in place to clean the reusable items, waste from food vendors and caterers was brought right down Mr Daly said.

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"It was a stunning success and I heard a lot of people liked the system," he said.

Mr Daly believed that the introduction of reusable crockery and cutlery helped heighten the eating experience for patrons at the festival as well.

"Usually when you go to festivals you get flimsy plates to eat on whereas here they were able to eat out of solid bowls and plates with good cutlery that didn't break on you," he said.

Mr Daly said the use of the whale structure wherein people could put their empty cans had also been very popular.

"It was really effective and I think it contributed to there being no rubbish at the festival as people were able to chuck a can in and build that piece of art," he said.

"I think you can expect to see a couple more whales next year and things like that," he added.

Mr Daly said the festival had grown in numbers for their second year which made them hopeful that Wanderer could continue on for another round next year.

"We're really thrilled with the turnout, especially in the economical climate we're in right now, the whole industry had been doing it really hard and for Wanderer to move forward during this time is a testament that we're collectively doing the right thing," he said.

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