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Amid the controversy of the NSW State Government’s punishing licencing requirements for music festivals, directors of the Farmer & The Owl Festival slated for this weekend (2nd March) are reassuring fans the “festival will go on.”
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The Wollongong-based fest features headline acts Hockey Dad and Beach House, and heavy music luminaries Deafheaven, J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), and Joyce Manor.
The NSW State Government has come under fire from music lovers and the industry for introducing new licensing requirements that classifies festivals according to “risk.”
Fourteen festivals will need to supply a safety management plan to receive a licence from the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.
Festival directors stated that Farmer & The Owl was classified as “high risk” three weeks ago, which required them to reapply for a new licence and submit a safety management plan.
The directors also said the authority “continued to not reveal what their High-Risk classifications means or how it is going to affect them or their operating budget,” one and a half weeks out from the event.
The high-risk classification was rescinded at 10pm on Friday, 22nd February.
Any event where a drug-related death or illness had occurred in the past three years is automatically included on the list.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, two festivals, Mountain Sounds and Psyfari, have pulled out of NSW citing unacceptable additional costs. Other festivals classified high-risk are Laneway, Defqon.1, and FOMO festivals. (See list below.)
The Australian Festival Association labelled the government consultation process a “farce.”
“By refusing to consult properly with industry, as opposed to the disorganised and inadequate process it has run to date, the NSW Premier now seems to be determined to shut down some of our best festivals for the sake of a quick media headline,” an AFA joint-statement reads.
“The Government’s approach does not make economic sense. Nor does it do anything to deliver better safety outcomes. If the Government was genuine in its commitment to festival safety it would be working hand-in-hand with our experienced festival organisers rather than just imposing new licensing conditions drawn up in Macquarie Street.”
Thousands of music lovers protested the laws in Sydney’s Hyde Park last Thursday night 21st of February, calling on Premier Gladys Berejiklian to reconsider the laws.
Chugg Entertainment’s Michael Chugg, Julian Hamilton of ARIA-winning duo The Presets, Dave Faulkner of the Hoodoo Gurus, and Murray Cook of The Wiggles spoke at the event.
Tickets for the Farmer & The Owl festival are still available via Moshtix.
High-Risk Festival List
– Days Like This – Victoria Park, Camperdown – March 2019
– Transmission – Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park – March 2019
– Up Down – Newcastle Foreshore, Newcastle – March 2019
– Defqon.1 – Sydney International Regatta Centre, Castlereagh – September 2019
– Subsonic – Riverwood Downs, Monkerai – November 2019
– This That – Wickham Park, Newcastle – November 2019
– Knockout Games of Destiny – Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park – December 2019
– Lost Paradise – Glenworth Valley – December 2019
– FOMO – Parramatta Park, Parramatta – January 2020
– Electric Gardens – Centennial Park – January 2020
– HTID – Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park – January 2020
– Rolling Loud – Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park – January 2020
– Laneway – Callan Park, Rozelle – February 2020
– Ultra – Parramatta Park, Parramatta – February 2020
