Nimbin was chosen as a site for the festival because it was removed from the structures in society that the organisers had previously been protesting.

It was a time of social and political change in Australia. Labor won the federal election in 1972, ending 23 years’ continuous Coalition government, and had started to introduce socially progressive and reformist policies and initiatives, including the end of military conscription for the Vietnam War.

The Aquarius Festival was to create and provide direction for the future, according to the Australian Union of Students.

Student and counter cultural activists, conservationists, healers, architects, engineers, indigenous people for land rights, alternative media and gurus and creative artists gathered at the lifestyle festival.

Several buildings in the town were bought by the Australian Union of Students, including the Tomato Sauce building (now home to the Nimbin HEMP Embassy), the Rainbow Café and Birth and Beyond (now the apothecary, formerly the RSL). After the festival, the first multiple occupancy community was created at Tuntable Falls. Several years later, campaigns to stop logging of the rainforest resulted in the declaration of Nightcap National Park. The lifestyle festival and the era that followed gave the new settlers a sense of belonging in the community.