Education Focus - University Of Wollongong

Yours & Owls Festival is back for its third year at its beachside location in the heart of Wollongong. With the likes of Hermitude, Tkay Maidza, The Living End, Client Liaison, Ball Park Music and Big Scary performing over this October long weekend, the festival has quickly gained a reputation for quality music and chilled-out vibes. And to think it all started when police shut down a uni student's house party!

Below is a short extract from the story Building A City On Rock And Roll, about how three students from University Of Wollongong built the festival from the grassroots up, and its impact on the culture of Wollongong.

"Adam Smith, Balunn Jones and Ben Tillman are reminiscing about a huge party that unfolded around them in 2008. They recall the holes in the wall from potato guns, the fireworks going off in the hallway, the loud music pumping from massive speakers and the sight of blue and red lights flashing through the windows. The police were there to break up Ben's 'barn' party of more than 600 people. Not for the first time.

"We called them barn parties, because of the shape of the house I shared with some other mates," Tillman says. "Word started to get out and they just got bigger and bigger. Hundreds of people would rock up. And then the police."

It was to be the last barn party after Tillman was hit with a hefty fine for disturbing the peace. "We were uni students and didn't have lots of money, so my solution was to throw another party," Tillman says.

Continue reading at: stand.uow.edu.au