A disgusted festival-goer has provoked outrage after posting footage of a national park left trashed after a four-day event.
The video shows a scene looking more like a tip than a campsite, strewn with rubbish and abandoned belongings after Lost Paradise in Glenworth Valley, north of Sydney.
Jesse McNair said the squalor is evidence of a throwaway society, and slammed the music festival organisers for a lack of bins.
A disgusted festival-goer has provoked a fiery debate after posting footage of a national park left trashed after a four-day event (pictured)
Mr McNair’s video shows abandoned tents, bags full of rubbish, and plastic blowing in the wind.
Even a yoga mat can be seen flying into the air along with various other belongings that have been left behind.
‘The festival organisers and patrons need a massive wake up call. Hardly a bin in sight!’ wrote Mr McNair on Tuesday.
‘For 4 days campers trashed their own camp sites living in squalor but who cares as long as they partied hard that’s all that matters to the younger generation.
The video shows a scene (pictured) looking more like a tip than a campsite, strewn with rubbish and abandoned belongings after Lost Paradise in Glenworth Valley, north of Sydney
Jesse McNair said the squalor is evidence of a throwaway society, and slammed the music festival organisers for a lack of bins
Everything that was bought for the festival was bought to be trashed and left behind – throwaway society. This is a disgrace.
‘This festival site is surrounded by pristine National Park and a lot of this rubbish was blowing into the tidal creek that flows into the Hawkesbury River and into our beautiful Pacific Ocean.
‘I’m sure they are all driving back to mum and dad’s house where she cleans up after them.
‘What ever happened to camping where you take everything with you and leave nothing but footprints?’
Mr McNair’s comments were echoed by dozens of Facebook users, although opinion was divided over who was to blame.
Some said the festival-goers should be personally responsible and not leave a mess, while others said the fault lay with the festival organisers.
One of the Lost Paradise organisers, Pete Haselhurst, responded with a message saying they are ‘continually working to find solutions to reduce the state of which the event site is left in.’
‘[Lost Paradise is] committed to leaving zero trace on our festival site, and ensuring the Glenworth Valley remains as pristine and perfect as we found it,’ he said.
‘Massive cleanup crews are working long hours to ensure that we leave absolutely no trace on the Glenworth Valley site, as we’ve done every year since our inception in 2014.
‘In 2017, we also introduced an Eco Bond on every ticket sold. This $10 fee is refunded if a guest collects and hand in 1 bag of recycling and 1 bag of general waste at the event.
The festival, which takes place each year over the New Year’s period, takes place on ancient land known to local Indigenous elders as ‘Paradise Lost’
Mr McNair’s comments were echoed by dozens of Facebook users, although opinion was divided over who was to blame
‘If not, it is forfeited and goes towards the cleanup effort, and for future protection and preservation of our festival site.
‘Over 22,000 bags where handed out on entry at the start of the festival.
‘For the last two years, we’ve also partnered with Green Connect, to further reduce our impact on the environment.
‘Green Connect are a social enterprise that works to keep waste out of landfill, and champions the employment of young people and former refuges.
‘While we don’t yet have figures for this year’s event, last year we kept 10.6 tonnes of organic material out of landfill, and put it to work growing seasonal, organic food with Green Connect.
‘In the end however, regardless of all the efforts we put in place to minimize the impact we put on the Glenworth Valley festival site, we can’t do this alone.
One of the Lost Paradise organisers, Pete Haselhurst, responded with a message saying they are ‘continually working to find solutions to reduce the state of which the event site is left in’
Paradise Lost is held over four days every New Year’s and is well-known for the attendees’ quirky costumes
‘We rely on our guests and everyone involved to do their part for the environment and take whatever they have brought with them away again, and use one of the many bins and Eco Stations provided on site.
‘Unfortunately not everyone helps with this effort and considerable quantities of camping equipment and trash has again been left behind.
‘We have a very large contingent of cleaners, both during the festival and post, with dedicated Popran Creek teams, who hit the grounds from the moment the campgrounds were vacated.
‘In the case of usable camping supplies left at Lost Paradise, we donate these to charitable organisations and partner with the Hawksberry Helpers, who can put them to good use.
A yoga mat could be seen flying in the wind above a campsite strewn with rubbish and filth
‘Regarding trash and recyclable materials left on site our crews will be working day and night to ensure all traces are removed.’
Paradise Lost is held over four days every New Year’s and is well-known for the attendees’ quirky costumes.
On its website the festival is described as ‘a music, arts, yoga, performance, food and camping experience like no other.’
This year’s performers included Matt Corby, RÜFÜS, Client Liaison, DMA’s, and Meg Mac.
The 2016 festival was marred by tragedy when a 21-year-old student from Canberra was killed by a metres-long falling branch in a freak accident.
On its website the festival is described as ‘a music, arts, yoga, performance, food and camping experience like no other’