Seriously, what is with people still dressing up in blackface? It’s 2016. It’s not funny, it’s not cute, and it’s certainly not clever. Yet no matter how many times people are told it’s just not on, there’s always one idiot who thinks it’s kosher.
Or in the case of Secret Garden Festival, there were two. Two ignorant dimwits who thought it sporting to attend the annual festival event, which famously encourages punters to dress up, as “rappers” clad in blackface. Yeah, we can’t even either.
But this seemingly depressing story took a rather heartening turn after one of the organisers of the sold-out festival, which went down just outside of Sydney over the weekend, spotted to the two gentlemen (we use the term loosely) and took them to task.
As The Brag reports, Secret Garden’s creative director, Adam Lewis, went over to the two guys and marched them to the showers in order to wash off their costumes, not unlike a disappointed school principal, except these were two grown men (again, loosely).
“There were a couple of guys who came out dressed as ‘rappers’, who we saw pretty much right away. We immediately made it clear that it was unacceptable, and I walked them directly to the showers,” Lewis told The Brag.
“It was a brief but really disappointing moment amongst an otherwise vibrant and wonderful weekend. We’re a festival that prides ourselves on being open and welcoming to people from all walks of life.”
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“Anything that makes people feel unwelcome or uncomfortable on the basis of who they are is completely unacceptable to us. As I mentioned, it’s a big bummer that this happened, especially given how clear the community has been about this being not okay.”
“It’s a big topic of discussion in the broader community and we’re hoping this stupid move by a couple of dickheads doesn’t overshadow everything else that happened.” Indeed, blackface has sadly been in the news a lot lately.
Lewis’ actions echo those of Meredith Festival organisers, who banned “offensive signage, slogans, clothing, costumes” back in 2014, including items such as Native American headdresses, which have become ubiquitous at music festivals for reasons we can’t explain.
