Despite recent negative events surrounding festival crowds, security and police, The Plot music festival was successfully held in Western Sydney’s Parramatta Park for the first time on December 5, Saturday.

“We found everyone including the Parklands Trust, Parramatta City Council, the local community groups and the local media to be really supportive of The Plot. We’re excited to be promoting a festival in Greater Western Sydney, an area that doesn’t currently have many platforms for live contemporary music,” The Plot event producer Kathryn Holloway told the International Business Times. “Our audience was diverse and came from all walks of life – they were all very welcoming of each other, engaged with the festival and helped create a great atmosphere by dancing.”

Festival attendees found themselves beside the Parramatta River and the Old Government House in the centre of the venue. Attendees were also able to take a tour of the historic building in the early hours of the festival, which is listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.

Parramatta Park Trust had provided the venue for the music festival.

“[It] is making a significant contribution in raising the profile of Western Sydney as a cultural hub . . . The Plot is an important event on Western Sydney’s events calendar, providing a much needed platform for emerging artists from local arts and youth-based organisations, we well as leading entertainers around the world,” Executive Director of Parramatta Park Trust Suellen Fitzgerald told the IBT.

25-year-old attendee Vincent Bui added, “This event reinforced the idea of a rapidly changing Western Sydney . . . It was a great idea to change people’s mindset about Western Sydney. I would love to go again."

Sydney rapper James Iheakanwa, also known by his stage name B Wise, has supported international acts such as Kid Cudi and GZA (Wu-Tang).

He believed the festival had differed from others he has played at.

“It was very local and community oriented with a killer, mostly all local line-up! It was a lot of fun and very relaxed. I opened the Narrative stage, and it was good to see some early patrons get into it for an early dance.”

The venue had aimed to attract international artists and promoters as a $16 million upgrade to the park was announced in the state budget last year, the largest investment in the venue’s history. In total, a funding of $35.4 million will continue to be allocated to the park in the next three years.

The Crescent events space received a $9.5 million upgrade, which enabled the venue to stage more outdoors, large-scale events to accommodate 15,000 people, according to Environment Minister Rob Stokes.

“As someone who lives in the inner city, travelling to Western Sydney seemed like a big distance especially because I rarely have to travel far at all to get to any major event around Sydney. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t a huge factor in my decision to attend or not and I’m sure the residents of Western Sydney appreciated having an event like that within their locality,” 26-year-old attendee David Cotton told IBT.

The new festival started in 2013, but was not held as an outdoors event but as a series of club shows at Luna Park’s Big Top in Sydney and at Palace Theatre and Ding Dong Lounge in Melbourne. Pre-‘Turn Down For What’ DJ Snake was part of the line-up.

After skipping 2014, Cattleyard Promotions, the team behind the Groovin The Moo (GTM) festivals, had partnered with Triple J to organise the nine-hour event.

“The crowds were loose as! Everyone just came with vibrant energy. The atmosphere was very electric, the local food and drink stores even added a little flavour of their own to the fest along with other artists moving around the park with everyone else,” said B Wise.

The outdoor venue was overwhelmed with premium produce suppliers such as Riverside Brewery, The Emporium and Knafeh Jerusalem Street Food.

“It was good fun, loved it and the great thing about this festival was that they had food trucks,” said Bui.

The event encompassed three stages – Narrative, Atomic and Drop stage.

The line-up showcased up-and-coming local artists from around Australia, such as Safia, Asta, Tkay Maidza, Art vs Science and Basenji.

“My favourite aspect of the festival would have to be the line-up. For me, there was a good balance of acts I was familiar with and new artists I was interested in seeing more of,” said Cotton.

Friend Within from the UK and Matoma from Norway had also performed.

“The Plot aims to be representative of the people who are part of it as well as the people going along to it. We’re interested in people’s stories – where they’ve come from, where they’re at and where they’re going to,” said Ms. Holloway. “We appreciate diversity, embrace the notion that everyone is welcomed and love providing a space to celebrate the artists and their music, community networks and local businesses who are all on the rise and, or doing something new and fresh. All these fresh ideas or perhaps they’re philosophies were the premise for the festival starting so everything we did from the artists we programmed to the food and beverage providers we included and the community groups we invited along all connected back to these ideas.”

Many, including the AU Review, believed there was a mutual respect between the crowd, security and events staff as opposed to what occurred at the recent Stereosonic music festival.

“Compared to other music festivals, the crowd seemed more down to earth and there was a more obvious vibe that everyone was there to enjoy the music and just have fun in the sun,” said Cotton.

Brisbane music producer Joey Da Rin, also known by his stage name Young Franco believed the event differed to most festivals in a positive way. He believed the festival was very well run, and found the people working at the event friendly and helpful.

“Loved it, never been to Parramatta before. I’m from Brisbane . . . No one was out of control partying which is a lot better to see than some festival [or] club crowds who party too hard.”

Bui added, “The crowd was friendly unlike Stereosonic. The Plot gave a chill vibe. Everyone was just enjoying themselves."

Ms. Holloway is looking forward to announcing the next chapter of the event in 2016.

Ms Fitzgerald also added, “Parramatta Park Trust looks forward to continuing to provide a world-class venue for high calibre productions, including Disney Under the Stars – scheduled for Saturday 12 March 2016 at the newly refurbished, The Crescent at Parramatta Park.”

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au