PHOTO GALLERY: Party in the Paddock gives fans something new to love

Things are constantly happening while, elsewhere, the mood is languor, and the activity to languish: stages thrum with energy and music while, nearby, peopled tents are dens for recuperating sleepers.

On Party in the Paddock's third day in Quercus Park, that balance of motion and stillness is plain to see - as it always is at festivals of its type.

The day begins late, revellers build towards it like the music lineups themselves - the smaller musicians who make up the early acts are less well-attended not only because their status means they draw fewer crowds, it's also that there are fewer crowds to draw on: most of the partygoers haven't the energy to leave their camps.

The earliest congregations of people aren't at stages, they're at coffee vans.

But, as time passes, the 12,000-strong number of fans in gaudy, kaleidoscopic outfits creep out of hibernation, first in small numbers and then greater; most of them eager to see the big Saturday night shows like Tash Sultana and Holy Holy.

The processions of people wax lyrically about the musicians they see - "I love how she makes me feel," one says; "It's that kind of music that makes you dance," another shouts - and plenty find that the big acts they came to watch aren't even the best part: it's the smaller ones.

On Saturday, the first act of the day on the Paddock Stage - the event's largest of six - was a home-state contribution: JEQA, a Hobart band headed by singer Jesse Bicanski, who writes her lyrics from a Huon orchard.

"This is the biggest thing we've ever done," Bicanski said at the opening of the band's set.

"We're nervous and wracked with anxiety but we're so happy to be here; it's a gift."

The band loved every minute of it, even debuting a new song for crowds on the main stage - an ethereal tune called Floating, Falling.

And, while they weren't the event's "secret act" - which turned out, later that night, to be the Australian favourites The Veronicas - it meant the world to them and gave the crowds a home team to chant for as well as something even more important.

Something new to love.