Police have charged 17 people with drug-related offences at Australia’s answer to the American hippie festival Burning Man.
The aptly named Burning Seed was held in Red Earth City near Wagga Wagga over a period of five days and includes an effigy and campground similar to its American counterpart.
NSW Police Sergeant Maggie Deall said that over the course of the festival there were 40 drug detections and 70 drug-related items seized from patrons.
The aptly named Burning Seed was held in Red Earth City near Wagga Wagga over a period of five days and includes an effigy and campground similar to its American counterpart (pictured is a reveller at the Wagga event)
The festival, which is in a fairly remote area of the forest, is the riskiest kind of place to be taking drugs, Sgt Deall added (pictured are a collection of the drugs confiscated)
‘Ecstasy, MDMA, cocaine, all the way through to magic mushrooms, cannabis, and prescribed restricted substances like buprenorphine,’ she told the Daily Telegraph.
The festival, which is in a fairly remote area of the forest, is the riskiest kind of place to be taking drugs, Sgt Deall added.
Without appropriate medical provisions close by one bad ‘trip’ could spell the end of your life.
‘You never know what’s in them. The next one could be the pill that kills you.’
Those who will face charges are believed to be from Sydney, Melbourne, the Northern Territory and Germany.
They are due to appear in court over the next few weeks.
Burning Seed is now in its seventh year and promises a community spirit alongside a sense of inclusion and ‘radical self-expression.’
Burning Seed is now in its seventh year and promises a community spirit alongside a sense of inclusion and ‘radical self-expression’ (pictured at the festival)
An effigy and a temple are lit on fire during the gathering (pictured)
On their website organisers describe the event as more of a ‘gathering’ than a festival.
‘Together we pool our resources, skills, ideas and imagination to create the funding, the city, the entertainment and the experience itself. It’s a week filled with art, Theme camps, gifting, performances, music, fire and more. We also take care of our day-to-day needs and the environment, while we’re there and when we leave,’ it reads.
It is primarily based on the American Burning Man music and arts festival, which saw one man, Aaron Mitchell, lose his life after running into a fiery effigy this year.
It is primarily based on the San Francisco-started Burning Man music and arts festival which sadly saw one man by the name of Aaron Mitchell lose his life after running into the fiery effigy this year (pictured)