How it all went down at Spilt Milk, from fashion to Post Malone

When The Courier attended at 2pm lines were moving very quickly to move in thanks to plenty of security staff and lines set up to get in.

Security staff were eagle-eyed for fake IDs, some with dozens already in their hands. The Courier saw two girls who were told to go home over their IDs which were confiscated.

Queues to the toilets were already incredibly long at 3 pm.

From first instance, festival fashion was in full swing despite the cold and wet weather.

You wouldn't be out of place at Spilt Milk Ballarat in anything mesh or crocheted.

Lots of girls favoured the cargo style parachute pants with micro crochet knits over triangle bikini tops.

Cowboys boots and Barbie pink were still popular in the sea of thousands of Spilt Milkers.

The early 2000's Y2K fashion has left a mark on Gen Z- bandana tops, mini skirts, butterfly hair clips, side tie pants and flares were also trending at the festival.

Heavy shoes like Doc Martens, Blundstones and platform boots were popular but so were Converse sneaker. Regardless of the footwear choice, they ended up muddied.

The Courier's festival reporter only sited one group who needed to put their runaway friend on a lead to avoid losing them.

Two best friends, Kayla Ashmore and Kayla Hamence, said they had just looked up festival looks online to get outfit inspiration.

They adorned long glittery mesh skirts and glittery hair.

While from Mildura, Kayla Hamence was able to stay with her bestie Kayla Ashmore who lives in Ballarat.

Friend group Samara and Toni went with their favourite colours for their festival fits, pink and green respectively.

Grace, however, decided to "dress for the cold."

"My outfit underneath is cute though," she said.

Another group of friends matched in rainbow so they could "find each other".

Tara said they were happy Spilt Milk Ballarat had upped its game when it came to accessibility.

"This year we are able to use the golf carts to get around," she said.

"I'm autistic so the sensory space is great as well."

There was also Peer Support staff handing out water, ear plugs and lollipops to festival goers.

The performances kicked off early across the three stages at Victoria Park - the main stage Angove, an undercover stage, Basquiat and Derbyshire.

Thanks to early morning drizzle, the mud could not be escaped.

At 2.30 pm, Australian rock band Redhook was on Derbyshire stage which was next to the KFC stand, handing out chicken and chips to a long queue.

Redhook's lead sinner Emmy Mack came out for the last two songs in a bloodied white dress, and bloody mouth.

Emmy Mack and band gave a great show, with the lead singer performing her hard vocals while on the stage floor and ended the Redhook set by crowd surfing.

CubSport played at the Basquiat stage- which was thankfully under cover, a much more chill vibe to Redhook.

The huge crowd swayed to the soulful but electric music. The highlight was when Tim Nelson introduced the song he wrote about fellow band mate and husband Sam Netterfield, called Party Pill.

The song ended with the couple singing to each other and a pash, driving the crowd wild.

Later in the day and closing in on the evening, two very different bands have still kept Spilt Milks vibe going.

At Derbyshire stage, The Dreggs were giving folk rock feels and making the crowd happy with great guitar and a banjo solo.

Then at the main stage, viral star Latto gave dancing vibes with her hits and her backup dancers.

Latto had smoke and fire special affects along with her dancers. Latto's viral hit Big Energy, which samples Mariah Carey, was a huge hit but her saucy dance moves and high beat bops kept the energy top tier.

Australian hit artist Peach PRC hit the undercover stage at 6.30 pm to thousands.

She wowed with backup dancers, pole dancing and all in pink sparkly outfits.

But it was her cover of Teenage Dirtbag and What Dreams Are Made Of that left the crowd breathless after singing along as loud as they could.

Peach PRC ended her set with her wildly popular hit song God is A Freak.

Lime Cordiale, on at the main stage at the same time as Peach PRC had an opposing vibe.

With a more gentile sound, Lime Cordiale played its soft indie rock tunes to another crowd of thousands.

Irish singer Dermot Kennedy was another soulful edition to the Spilt Milk line-up.

Performing on the main stage, the massive crowd were speechless with his beautiful voice.

The second last act on the main stage was Ocean Alley who performed in the last sunlight of Saturday before it got dark.

The Australian band is known for their psychedelic rock and 2018 Hottest 100 number one, Confidence.

And the headline act was Post Malone.

Accommodation was a big issue for Spilt Milkers coming to Ballarat for the event.

One festival goer, Alex, drove from Mount Gambier in South Australia with his mate and ended up couch surfing because they couldn't get a place to stay.

The camping site outside the festival had a few hundred tents.

Another group who came from Cranbourne, Maddi, Meg and Jess, said despite trying to book accommodation as soon as they got their Spilt Milk tickets, everything booked out straight away.

They ended up camping in someone's 13-acre property using the app, Hipcamp.

Many festival goers were local to Ballarat and had been concerned about transport back home.

Dozens of buses and shuttles were already lined up outside the festival from drop offs to the train station by 10pm with the last trains to Melbourne being at around 11.30 pm and 12.30 am.

Taxis and Uber cars were also being directed by staff in the small Victoria Park parking area off Sturt Street.