I had played a cranking little party the night before at the Point with The Dynamic Thrills and Schoolfight and we were going to play another wee gig at the Mason's Pub at Home Beach. There were a tight crew of us West End ratbags intermeshed with some local boozehounds, making tunes, playing pirates, exploring the dunes and soaking up the mystical essence of the island. I thought to myself how incredible it would be to bring a heap of bands and some outdoor stages  to share this experience with as many cats as possible.

I talked about it for weeks to everybody I knew and I started to get a lot of support from crew on Straddie and also Brisbane, the Northern rivers, the Sunny Coast and even as far as Cairns and Melbourne.. I didn't expect the enthusiasm that people had for the idea, and without it nothing much would have happened.

 

Creating a festival from scratch on an island is not without a crazy amount of logistical challenges and red tape - yet I reached a point where I had talked enough and I had to follow through with the gig no matter what the cost. I had to walk the walk and make this sucker happen!

 

Before we could go ahead it was crucial to communicate the concept with the Traditional Owners and custodians of Minjerribah and I put the word out to make contact. One day a van pulled up to the Shire in West End and Bejam (Noonuccal elder) hopped out and invited me and production manager Jess Latham to a ceremony on Minjerribah at their sacred meeting place Moongalba.

 

 

We came to the meeting and ate a feast of sand crabs and fish and shared our visions of the festival with Bejam and the Walker family. Since that wonderful day, we have strived to keep the Quandamooka people involved as much as possible and to pay respect their ancient cultural heritage. Good relationships take time to evolve, but I would like to thank the Quandamooka people for their generosity and hospitality from the start. After the feast, Jess and I became treaty members to recognize the sovereign rights of the first peoples of Australia.

 

Rapidly Island Time (as it was then called) approached and the workload became a morass of event plans, artist management, bar licenses, police approvals etc. To my aid came event manager Libby Kilby - without whose dedication the festival would never have survived its first years.

 

The big day arrived (October 6th 2006) and despite wind, rain, blackouts, a comicly large police presence and an incomplete fence, the festival proved to be a great success. 40 bands played over 3 days and the small crowd who came had a mad time. They say that putting on a festival is like putting all the cash you can get your hands on, packing it neatly into a suitcase and throwing it off a cliff.. that's kinda what happened to me that year, but I knew that everyone who came would be back the next year with a friend or two.. We had something cooking and soon the aroma would be bringing in cats from all over the pacific, from as far away as New Caledonia, Aotearoa, Samoa and PNG. We knew Island Time would survive and grow into the future.

 

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the festival to make it what it is today. Firstly Ali Donnellan our tireless managing Director, the mighty crew, generous volunteers, loveable and eccentric  locals, Traditional Owners and all the peace, music and environment loving people that come and enjoy Island Vibe.

 

Much respect

 

Morgyn 'Rudi' Quinn