A very big thank you to everyone who came and celebrated our 24th anniversary at our home at Tyagarah Tea Tree farm. It was a wonderful  Easter weekend, and it's huge success was down to the all those who attended; Festival goers, artists, staff, stall holders, contractors, stake holders and media who made it what it was - a legendary weekend!

Our 24th anniversary also marked the 4th year of being at our permanent home at Tyagarah; The move out to the Tea Tree Farm was a dream that finally came true in 2010 for the 21st anniversary, after seeking a permanent home since 1996.

Tyagarah Tee Tree Farm is nestled on 120 hectares, just 11 kilometres north of Byron Bay and 8 kilometres south of Brunswick Heads. It is a fully operational Tea Tree Farm for most of the year and turns into a Bluesfest site for a few weeks before, during and after the Easter Festival weekend. 

Further information:

In addition to the 7 performance stages, 5 licensed bars,  50+ market stalls, 40+ food stalls make sure everyones needs are catered for at Bluesfest, not just the musical ones.

About our wildlife:

Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm’s Koalas

Like Bluesfest itself, the Koala is an international icon. Koalas are still widely distributed throughout the north east of New South Wales. Increasingly however they are under pressure from human occupation. Coastal populations in particular are at risk from habitat destruction, disease, road strikes, predation by dogs and even wildfire. The species is listed ‘vulnerable to extinction’.

The presence of koalas and the opportunity to observe them in their natural habitat are privileges which bring responsibilities. Bluesfest takes these responsibilities very seriously and is developing a management strategy which includes monitoring the animals’ movement, health status and fecundity.

Being arboreal marsupials, koalas live out their lives in trees. Where their habitat is fragmented, which is the case with the Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm they are forced to spend more time on the ground moving between trees. This is when their exposure to accidents and attack by predators increases. Koala survival therefore relies on responsible personal behaviour.

Please note that Bluesfest is a no-dogs event (although the presence of security, sniffer and guide dogs is permitted). Driving on-site must be limited to 8kph in carpark areas and 10kpm in all other areas. Signed Ecologically Sensitive Areas are off-limits.

Bluesfest Koala Protocol

During the Festival an ecologist and staff from the University of Queensland will be present to provide assistance in the event of a koala encounter.

Koalas are distributed throughout the Bluesfest site and they are not as sedentary as we make out. They can move around at any time of the day and night but are especially active around dusk, early evening and early morning.
We are interested in knowing about sightings of koalas going about their business but we are more interested in koalas requiring intervention due to disease, stress or potentially unsafe locations. Such an animal may be sitting on the ground unresponsive to your presence; its coat may be rough and brown or it may have brown staining on its rump and or crusty red eyes.

Note: 
Please don’t draw unnecessary attention to the animal’s presence
Preferably stay at the point of observation until assistance arrives, keeping a reasonable distance. If that is not possible then please clearly mark the tree/spot where you saw the koala
 If a crowd congregates, encourage calm and quiet to minimise stress to the koala
Do not interfere with the animal in any way – koalas can bite and scratch
Thanks for your co-operation!
Lastly:

Work never stops on our land. We do work all year round to add improvements and infrastructure. Our goal is to create a Festival home, which offers all the comforts of a permanent Festival site, but at the same time keeping it natural and green. We are well on track on achieving this in the future.

Let's not forget: We could not do this without you.

Thank you for all the support.

We look forward to welcoming you back for Bluesfest 2014- our 25th Anniversary!