Two 'High Risk' Festivals Are Launching Legal Action Against the NSW Government

Late last Friday night, the NSW Government sent a text message to 14 local festivals notifying them that they had been deemed 'high risk', and that they would have to adhere to its strict new licensing regime. Now, a group of five festival organisers and promoters — including two of the 'high risk' festivals — has announced it will be taking legal action against the Government.

In a statement released today, the coalition said the NSW Government's new music festival policy was "misguided and unwarranted" and that there has been "zero transparency or justification" for why the 14 festivals were named 'high risk'.

The new music festival licence, which comes into effect today — Friday, March 1 — follows advice from the government's expert panel on music festival safety, which was assembled in September after two young people died of suspected drug overdoses at Defqon 1. Since then, another three festivalgoers have died — including one at Lost Paradise, which is one of the 'high risk' festivals launching legal action against the government.

The group, which also includes 'high risk' festival Days Like This, as well as promotors Finely Tuned, Novel and Division Agency, also said in the statement that it does "not wish to detract from the severity" of the festival deaths by pursuing legal action against the Government.

As the group's spokesperson, Jason Ayoubi from Days Like This and Division Agency has criticised the NSW Government's lack of consultation with members of the industry — a sentiment that has been echoed by many, including the Australian Festival Association — saying that "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".

Laneway Festival 2017, shot by Maclay Heriot.

Co-founder and organiser of Laneway (another festival deemed 'high risk' by the Government) Danny Rogers also announced that he is considering legal action, calling the festival's classification "preposterous" and "short-sighted". Two NSW festivals — Mountains Sounds and Psyfari — have already had to cancel because of costs associated with the new licensing regime.

The festival group says it is currently in discussion with solicitors and will be mounting a challenge "imminently". More festival organisers and promoters are expected to join the coalition soon, too. We'll keep you updated on any notable new developments.

Days Like This is expected to go ahead on Saturday, March 9 in Victoria Park, with Lost Paradise scheduled for December.