Splendour In The Grass is among four Australian music festivals being called on to turf Wicked Campers (that’s the popular brand of campervans-for-hire that are often splashed with grossly misogynistic images and slogans) from future events.
Activist group Collective Shout has penned an open letter to the organisers of Splendour, Rainbow Serpent, Big Pineapple and Woodford Folk Festival, urging them to outlaw the offensive vans ASAP.
Their letter reads, in part:
Collective Shout is a grassroots campaigning movement against the objectification of women and the sexualisation of girls in media, advertising and popular culture. Since our formation a decade ago, we have engaged in an on-going campaign against the Australian camper van company Wicked Campers.
Wicked Campers has attracted widespread criticism for its normalising of violence against women. The vehicles are notorious for their sexist and misogynist slogans and imagery, some advocating rape and even murder. The company has also been criticised for its homophobic and racist slogans.
The organisation goes on to cite Wollombi Music festival organiser Adrian Buckley’s recent total Wicked Camper van ban as a shining example for the rest of the nation’s festival heads to follow:
“Some festivals around Australia have made the decision to ban individual Wicked Camper vans if they contain an offensive slogan. But we would urge festivals to go further and following the lead of Adrian Buckley in banning all Wicked Campers from your event. This would send a strong signal that you will not allow Wicked Campers to be represented in any way at your festival. Our thousands of supporters around the country would welcome this move.”
You can read the full letter here.
At the time of writing, none of the festival organisers have responded publicly to the open letter.
We’ll bring you more news on this story as it develops.
