No one knows exactly how loud the musical performances wafting across the red dirt plains of the outback as part of the Mundi Mundi Bash are - they don't need to.
With no neighbours as far as the crow flies or the eye can see, the sky's the limit for the production crew behind the mega, state-of-the-art light and sound set-up at Australia's largest outdoor music festival.
Unlike most festivals and concerts, there's no decibel-measuring at the event's pop-up city site, known as Mundiville.
Marc Christowski, who books Mundi's crowd-pleasing line-ups, says safety is the only metric the production crew needs to consider when it comes to the volume.
"Obviously, we care because we've got an event that's got a lot of children here and they've got sensitive ears and we don't want to create any damage to their ears," he told AAP.
"...Our crew are the cream of the crop. We have complete confidence the sound will be delivered at a level where it is not uncomfortable.
"If we see people with their fingers in their ears, we know we have a problem. But we don't see that."
Open to all ages, the sold-out bash is staged on Belmont Station, nine kilometres north of Silverton and 35km from Broken Hill, NSW, and has become an annual pilgrimage for many.
When it's not hosting an all-star line-up of Australian musicians and thousands of campers from across the country, the privately owned property is a working sheep farm with flocks of wild goats.
The event has become a rite of passage for many of its patrons - and some of its favourite artists, including Kasey Chambers and Missy Higgins.
Chambers returned to the festival stage on Thursday night in a full-circle moment, while Higgins leads the Friday line-up.
"I love it here. I can honestly say this festival changed my life," Chambers told her audience.
The award-winning musician recalled flying into Broken Hill in 2022 to play Mundi Mundi and being inspired by what she saw.
"I started watching all of these caravans drive through town, and I started thinking about my childhood, of growing up in the outback, where I lived in a little handmade van made by my dad," she said.
"He made it with his hands, and I grew up living in this little van, and I started getting really homesick. And I was like, You know what? I don't want to fly everywhere anymore. I want to get a caravan, and I want to tour like that."
So she did.
Chambers bought an off-road caravan and a Chevy Silverado and has spent the past three years "touring in my caravan because of the Mundi Mundi Bash".
"We've been staying here and hanging out and just absolutely living the dream in that caravan - playing music all over Australia," she said.
Event director Greg Donovan says the bash is more than a festival.
"It's a community, and it's the best showcase of what outback NSW has to offer," he said.
Birds of Tokyo, Higgins and Iota's Ziggy - 50 Years of Bowie tribute play the bash on Friday, while Kate Ceberano, The Cat Empire and Hoodoo Gurus top the bill on Saturday.
The 2025 bash will also celebrate its Mad Max heritage on Saturday with themed activities that reference Furiosa - the latest instalment of George Miller's franchise, which was filmed on the festival grounds.
