The Aquarius Festival, the event that shaped Nimbin into what it is today as a local, national and international destination, has been turned into a film by local director Wendy Champagne.

Recently shown at the Byron Bay Film Festival, where it was a sellout, it is being shown in Nimbin over the next two Sundays, with a Q&A session after each movie.

David Hyett from the Nimbin Bush Theatre (where the screening will be held) talks of the relevance of Aquarius to the area today, “It was the Aquarius Festival that brought people here. 

“10,000 or so people. And from that draw card, the people came and celebrated their union together, and a lot of them stayed. They decided that they didn't want to have a bar of how life was, and they wanted to make a new future.”

It started as a vision by uni students, “There were students from various universities who were looking to hold a festival, which was combination of demonstration, and also to change of the way of being. It had music and arts and young people having a good time. 

“The theme of the festival was, “You are the Festival”.

“It was done on a very tight budget, but it had funding from the Labor Government, Gough Whitlam was one of the key people to ensure that the funding came through.

“This movie is the story about how it came about. It’s pretty incredible.”

The relevance to the popularity of Nimbin and how this single event shaped the future of a small town losing its industry could have happened anywhere.

“It was very interesting that when they approached Nimbin to hold the festival, they were looking all around the country. They came across this little village, which was suffering from the financial vagaries that were created through the loss of the dairy farming industry.”

Life was brought back to this small town at risk of dying out and fading away by the young energy. The film also addresses ”What it took for people to be accepting of the fact that it would be a good thing for the village.”

Local film director Wendy Champagne wants locals to get something to enrich their identity of being from this area, “I want people to get pride from the film and to know what is possible when you get together with a bunch of other ratbags and try new things and work for the good of the environment and each other.”

Wendy came home from being overseas and was disappointed by the lack of good films about the region, “The reason why I made it actually came out of a response to as a filmmaker. Returning here and realising that there were not a lot of good stories being made out of here kind of forced the decision. Aquarius is a key story that makes this place what it is.”

Wendy will be at the Q&A sessions along with other Aquarians and people of the Aquarian ethos to discuss the topics of Community and Protest.

The Q&A this weekend will be about Communities and Community living. David has arranged a panel of people to support the discussion, including Tom Zubrycki, a well-known and respected documentary film-maker who is moderating the Q&A this weekend.

The panel includes:

Terry McGee, once a Lismore counsellor, created and formed the Tuntable community, Billen Cliffs community and Blue Springs communities. 

Jen Ireland from Dharmananda, a successful community that has been around for over 50 years.

Megan James from the Tuntable Falls community, is a long-term activist and member of the community.

The panel for the protest Q&A is under final consideration.

Aquarius will be shown at the Nimbin Bush Theatre at 2pm on:

• Sunday, November 17th - Q&A on Communities and Community Living
• Sunday, November 24th - Q&A on Protests