Hard News by Russell Brown

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Splore 2017

I'm a fitful photographer at festivals: I kick off keen but by the time the party really starts, I'm happy enough to simply avoid losing my phone, let alone take it out and point it at things.

And thus it was at Splore 2017. There are no pictures of Saturday night. But I did take a few during the four days I was on site at Tapapakanga Regional Park. Here they are.

Feel free to add your own: just use the "file upload" button under the comment window. 500kb to 1MB is a good size.

It was clear even by Thursday that it was going to be a muddy festival. By the time vehicles were blocked, Wellness Central was well cut-up. Photo: Russell Brown

Wendy Allison took part in Saturday's Listening Lounge talk about drugs and harm reduction – which was for the second year running the most popular of the sessions (yes, there's a demand for sensible, informed talk about drugs). Here she is on Thursday, setting up the harm reduction tent. Photo: Russell Brown

The restorative morning swim is a feature of the Splore experience, even when it's still a little grey, as it was on Friday morning. Photo: Russell Brown

Jafa Mafia at the Beach Shack were an early highlight. Love those dubplates. Photo: Russell Brown

My friend Lady Rox playing a perfectly-pitched late-afternoon set and looking like a total DJ babe. Photo: Russell Brown

This is my favourite shot of the whole weekend. Kids making their way to the composting toilets early-ish on Saturday morning. Photo: Russell Brown

My Listening Lounge programme on Saturday morning kicked off with a chat with the family-within-the-whanau of Fat Freddy's Drop talking about being family. Shown: Mark 'MC Slave' Williams and his daughters, Mark's nephew Benny Lindsay (aka DJ Beau Beau), and Benny's dad Joe 'Hohepa' Lindsay'. Not shown: Mark's sister/Joe's wife/Benny's mum Alicia Williams, who pointed out that she was the first DJ in family (remember DJ Unleashed in the 90s, Aucklanders?). Photo: Russell Brown

One of the sweeter performances came from this crew, who played some dancin' brass on the beach. Photo: Russell Brown

Fat Freddy's Drop made a great Splore Sunday act. I was up on the hill, so I didn't get any pictures of the Mud People in the crowd, but they were definitely this year's spontaneous happening. Photo: Russell Brown