Festival organisers claim the new regulations are opaque when it comes to classifying festivals as ‘high risk’.
Multiple New South Wales music festivals that have been classified as ‘high risk’ have commenced legal action against the state government on the grounds of unfair and prejudiced treatment.
Organisers from Days Like This and Lost Paradise, in addition to music agencies Division, Novel and Finely Tuned, believe new policies implemented by the Berejiklian state government are a “knee-jerk” reaction to the handful of drug-related deaths that occurred across a range of NSW festivals over the summer.
“I am completely perplexed and astounded to see Days Like This Festival published on a list of ‘high hisk’ festivals with no tangible justification,” said Days Like This organiser Jason Ayoubi.
“There was a real opportunity here for the NSW government to consult with an industry that generates over $1.8 billion a year in revenue to come up with ways we could potentially improve safety at festivals and instead they have chosen to vilify 14 individual festivals without any discussion.”
Fourteen music festivals were placed on the high risk list in February. These festivals will be affected by the new music festival licensing scheme introduced by the Bereijiklian government in an attempt to curb drug-related deaths and illnesses. Other festivals placed on the list include Laneway, FOMO and Ultra.
