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eA Oak Ro Festival Review Over the new year of 1977-78, 10,000-15,000 people gath- ered at Mt Oak near Bredbo, NSW, helping to create a new society. When the Confest ended, a few hardy soulsremained to build a community on land that was bought by donations at the festival and which has, through a convoluted and sometimes tortured history, become the first “free land” in Australia. The land was arid and overgrazed - like much of this country - and it was hoped that by diligent application of ecological principles it could be restored to fertility, showing the potential of alternative management. Many felt that you couldn’t find a better way to monkey-wrench a fledgeling Down to Earth movement. Nonetheless, there is something special about this land that defies analysis - and it's a living example of what we've done to this country. The opportunity to attract ‘new blood’ onto the site - with the return of the alternative movement ten years later - was largely missed. The original Mt Oak festival was held by the Murrumbidgee River, but this one was held on rough, un- shaded sections 2 to 5km from the 2.5km river-frontage. Access to the original site - where the occupants have built some dwellings, including icosahedral domes - was discour- aged, so few saw what had been done with the site. Early warnings from many individuals and the Victorian Down to Earth organisation that the festival should be held on the river were unfortunately ignored, partly out of fear of soil erosion on the riverbanks. A total lack of showers, child- care and of transport for children and pregnant women led to more enterprising campers organizing a shuttle service to the river themselves - in fact, organizing large parts of the festival ad hoc, a lesson in self-sufficiency. Had the festival been held by the Murrumbidgee, organizers would have received the backing and organizational ability of the Victo- rian Down to Earth movement and might then have at- tracted thousands more than the 1,500 to 2,000 people there. For about a third of those who attended it was their first festival. Hopefully, it won’t be their last. This was a time for people across Australia to network closely together and ‘there were a number of people representing the Rainforest Information Centre, AASC, Getting Together, Green Alli- ance Permaculture groups and others. Many constructive workshops were held and a large portion of the land bene- fited from new irrigation and copious human manure. These festivals are designed to focus disparate forces within the alternative movement from all over the country into an area where they canrub shoulders - but at Confest 88 people were dispersed right across almost 3,000 acres of land - resulting in two or three ‘mini-festivals’ instead of a single cohesive one. The organiser/residents were heavily stressed. We can learn much irom this festival, and the next one will be better as a result - wherever it may be held. There is a growing need for people to work together in unified strate- gies, moving in common directions to heal the planet. Australia's 'tyrrany of distance’ can be momentarily overcome by this sort of networking combined with aGOOD RAGE - which the Confest was, despite its flaws. Mount Oak ’88 was a symbol of the alternative movement as a whole - down to Earth hope, comedy and drama encapsulated ~ Eee