For those of you unfamiliar with it, Cooly Rocks On runs from the 3rd to the 13th of June and is replacing the annual Wintersun Festival which sadly announced after last year’s festival that it would be moving to Port Macquarie. It’s still got all the much-loved elements of Wintersun including cars, rockabilly and 50s nostalgia.

Twas the night before Cooly and all through my lair, not a creature was stirring except for my hair. My bandana was tied with haste but with care, to keep all my pin curls safely in there. I nestled myself all snug in my bed, while stray clips and pins poked me in the head.

Unfortunately it was after a not-so-long winters nap that on Saturday morning the boyfriend and I dragged ourselves out of bed and made ourselves presentable to get away early in the hopes of avoiding the traffic and finding a park in plenty of time so as not to miss any of our favourite bands that were lined up for the day.

We shot off just after 9 (what with all the primping and preening that is early for me! Judge me if you want) and made great time, thankfully didn’t encounter much traffic and found one of the best parking spots! Very much a fluke but how lucky! There was hardly anywhere to park, legal or otherwise, and we managed to get a spot just a couple of metres from where all the action was happening. Thank you parking Gods!

The weather is usually a bit cool but generally quite nice for the festival but considering how crazy the weather has been lately it was a little bit disappointing because it was quite overcast and very cold!! In my outfit pic you can see my big red coat which kept me pretty warm, except when the wind really got up. Which it did, hence my slightly squinting expression – sorry!
It was great seeing everyone and catching up as it’s been a little while since we’ve really been out on the town properly. Boyfriend has been recovering from an op so we’ve been laying low and he’s still not fully recovered so he was a total champ to be on his feet all day at Cooly! It was great crowding the streets to see the bands playing, surrounded by some amazing cars! We caught The Detonators first up – one of my favourites! There were plenty of people down the front keeping warm by dancing up a storm! My feet were getting pretty itchy standing there watching, but since my mister had to take it easy we just enjoyed watching and bopping along.
The Rockabilly Outdoor Stage was where it was all happening and we stayed there pretty much all day apart from a few food, toilet and pub detours. We enjoyed seeing Doug Wilshire & The Tailspinners, No Brakes, Corn Liquor, The Flying Saucers and of course The Flattrakkers – another of my favourites! They have also just released a new album so it was really cool hearing some new tunes.

All in all a great weekend and I look forward to Cooly Rocks On next year, which will hopefully attract some better weather. We’ll be at 100% next year and if we’re lucky we might even score some accommodation and party up properly!