Blog News

Rainbow Serpent will be officially banned nangs from this year’s event

Victorian festival Rainbow Serpent has announced that nitrous oxide bulbs — aka nangs — will be officially banned from this year’s event in order to curb the environmental damage caused by the metal canisters.

In a Facebook post last week, organizers wrote that since 2012 they had been actively trying to discourage festival goers from using NOS bulbs, but “patrons have ignored their pleas”, and so a full force ban will now be put in place.

“In addition to being a safety hazard, NOS also increases the amount of rubbish we accumulate for landfill,” organizers wrote. “These bulbs are not recyclable due to danger of explosion and the empty boxes, balloons and cartridges are left everywhere…It is just not cool to stumble on empty bulbs left on the ground.”

We are unfortunately enforcing a complete NOS ban in 2018 and we will confiscate any bulbs or paraphernalia found without exception.”

For those unfamiliar: nitrous oxide is an anaesthetic commonly used by dentists and doctors, however it’s also available commercially to make whipped cream — and inhaling the gas causes a short, 20-second high. While the bulbs are available over the counter at most supermarkets and kitchen shops, selling them for non-medical human consumption remains illegal in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

They’ve been causing a bit of an uproar recently: last October the ABC ran three separatestories over the course of a single day about nangs and the danger they pose to public health.

Read the full statement from Rainbow Serpent below. The festival is set to take place from January 26 to 29 in Lexton, Victoria; tickets have now sold out.