Rainbow Dreaming
A wonderful exhibition of Aquarian stories that live on!
Book from the exhibition: Prabhu, H., & Batterbury, G. (2013). Rainbow dreaming: tales from the age of aquarius (Aquarius Festival 40th anniversary edition ed.). Rainbow Collective.
Books about Aquarius
Jiggens, J. (1983). Rehearsals for the Apocalypse: Part one: the Aquarius Festival, May 12–22, 1973. J. Jiggens. A poetic evocation of the 1973 Aquarius Festival.
Smith, M., & Crossley, D. (1975). The Way Out: radical alternatives in Australia. Lansdowne. A compilation of writing including pieces by several Aquarians including Johnny Allen and Graeme Dunstan.
Writing about the Aquarian legacy
Bible, V. (2016). On Common Ground: Cultivating Environmental Peace: A History of the Rainbow Region [Doctoral Thesis, University of New England]. Armidale, NSW.
Bork, G. (2017). Walking the Reciprocal Restoration Talk, Rainforest, Eastern Australia [Southern Cross University]. Lismore, NSW.
Burnam, B. (1987). Aboriginal Australia and the Green Movement. In D. Hutton (Ed.), Green politics in Australia : a collection of essays (pp. 91-104). Angus & Robertson.
Cock, P. (1979). Alternative Australia: Communities of the Future? Quartet Australia.
Derrett, R. (2008). Regional festivals : nourishing community resilience: the nature and role of cultural festivals in Northern Rivers NSW communities
Garbutt, R. (2019). Creating Space for Protest and Possibility: Nimbin, Australia, from 1973. Contention (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 7(1), 66-80. https://doi.org/10.3167/cont.2019.070106
Garbutt, R. (2014). Aquarius and Beyond: Thinking through the Counterculture. M/C Journal: A journal of media and culture, 17(6). http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/911
Hale, Mandie.UNIQUE Creative Homes of Nimbin and Surrounds.
Kijas, J. (2011). Caravans & Communes: stories of settling in the Tweed 1970s & 1980s. Tweed Shire Council.
Marsh, V. (2014). The Evolution of a Meme Cluster: A Personal Account of a Countercultural Odyssey through The Age of Aquarius. M/C Journal, 17(6). https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.888
Newton, J. (1988). Aborigines, Tribes and the Counterculture. Social analysis(23), 53-71.
Norst, M. J. (1999). A Warrior for Peace: Burnum Burnum. Kangaroo Press. With a story about Burnum Burnum’s relationship with the Aquarian community.
Ricketts, A., & Kia, A. (2018). Enabling Emergence: The Bentley Blockade and the Struggle for a Gasfield Free Northern Rivers. Southern Cross University Law Review, 19, 51-76. (S. Cross U. L. Rev.)
Rolls-Gordon, N. (2016). Where The Heart Is: What we can Learn about Social Sustainability from Intentional Communities [Southern Cross University]. Lismore, NSW.
Scantlebury, A. (2014). Black Fellas and Rainbow Fellas: Convergence of Cultures at the Aquarius Arts and Lifestyle Festival, Nimbin, 1973. M/C Journal: A journal of media and culture, 17(6). http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/923
Seed, J., Macy, J., Fleming, P., & Naess, A. (1988). Thinking like a mountain: towards a council of all beings. New Society Publishers.
Shields, K. (2000). In the tiger’s mouth: an empowerment guide for social action.
Taylor, A. L. (1981). Retreat or Advance: new settlers and alternative lifestyles in the Rainbow Region. Dept of Geography, University of New England.
Wilson, H. (2003). Belonging in the Rainbow Region: cultural perspectives on the NSW North Coast. Southern Cross University Press.
Podcasts and Media
Kendell, J., & Tait, P. (1995). Nearly normal Nimbin. Gaia Films.
Richmond-Tweed Oral History Group – Under the Rainbow
Shoebridge, B. (2016). The Bentley effect : the story of a social movement.
Shostak, S. (2015). Mullumbimby’s Madness: The Legacy of the Hippies. Mullumbimby, NSW, Brunswick Valley Historical Society.
Social Media
Nimbin Aquarius Foundation Inc.
Library Collections
The Aquarian Archives are currently housed at the Richmond Library, and are only accessible digitally, online.
There’s a great folder full of media clippings from Aquarius Festival at Byron Bay library (not for loan), call number LST 394.2699443 NIMB
Original records of the Aquarius Festival from the Australian Union of Students are held at the National Library in Canberra, Manuscript reference no. : NLA MS 6945
The Rainbow Archives at the State Library of NSW is a broader, national collection of counterculture archives.